


The World of Spells and Steam

by DancingAnya



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Fantasy, M/M, Machines, Magic, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pining Katsuki Yuuri, Pining Victor Nikiforov, Steampunk, Victorian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-06-30 11:15:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15750558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingAnya/pseuds/DancingAnya
Summary: All Victor Nikiforov knew was steam. He never knew love or family, just the way it felt to have created something useful. So, when Katsuki Mari came knocking at his door one night with her unconscious brother, love wasn’t what compelled him to help save him. It was greed. In exchange for Katsuki Yuuri’s service, Victor gave him a clockwork heart. The heart saved Yuuri, but also sealed a new fate for both men. A fate filled with something neither men had felt before.When a giant threat faces their country, Yuuri and Victor must act to save the city from destruction. In a whirlwind of love, magic, and machines, they might just have to sacrifice it all to do it. How will they fare when their life and love is on the line?





	1. The Clockwork Heart

Steam was all that Victor Nikiforov knew. It was his life. Nothing could get in the way of him and his work, and nobody dared try. Others tried to copy his work, but they all ultimately failed. No one could compare to Victor. No one could even come close. 

In the city of Hasetsu, the capital of the country of Kugokuni, Victor helped raise a new era of steam. Not even London, often thought of as one of the world leaders in technology, could compare to Hasetsu. Victor was that good. He built steam factories, incorporated electricity into his works, and made Hasetsu the most efficient-running city in the entire world. Everyone was trying to get their hands on it, but the king held these inventions in great regard and saved them from anyone who wanted a piece of it. 

The fairy days of old were nothing but a mere dream in the eyes of Victor. This was the now, and anyone who was looking back was crazy. The creatures of magic had all disappeared, unable to keep up in the new world. Victor thought it was for the best, after all. If they couldn’t live in the new world, they shouldn’t have to. The world was changing whether they liked it or not. 

Victor thought on all of this as he worked in his lab one rainy night. The darkness and the rain never bothered Victor much. As long as he had light and a roof over his head, he could keep on working on his projects. That was all that mattered. The turning of cogs and the blaze of the fire were his favorite sounds. 

But that sound got disturbed by a frantic knock on his door. Victor turned away from his inventions. Who could be visiting him at this hour? Who would visit him at all? It was a strange mystery and Victor, a man of great curiosity, abandoned his better judgment and decided to see who it was. He peaked through his peephole and saw a girl. The girl was drenched in water and crying. Did she only want to come inside? Victor couldn’t risk having his lab found out. He called to her through the door. 

“I don’t have shelter for you. Try next door.” 

“Please!” she called, “Are you Mr. Nikiforov?” 

That got Victor’s attention. After going into hiding years ago, not many had been able to find him. He opened the door and saw that the girl was holding a someone over her shoulder. She wasn’t much of a “girl” either, standing fairly tall even for a grown woman. She looked mangy and panicked, but visibly relaxed when she saw his face. 

“What business do you have with a ‘Mr. Nikiforov.’” 

“Please, sir, if you are him, my brother is dying. I can’t keep him alive much longer! I need your help. I know you used to be a doctor and that you dabble in human machinery. You’re the only one who can help.” 

“No.” 

“You have to! He will die!” 

“I don’t know this ‘Mr. Nikiforov’ you speak of. I am not him. I wish you the best of luck.” 

Victor began to close the door when he heard the woman mutter, “I should have known better than to ask a machinist for help.” 

Victor opened the door. 

“And who are you that you don’t like machinists?” 

“My name is Katsuki Mari. I’m a mage.” 

Victor took in a deep breath. He hadn’t met many mages in his time, as they were almost extinct, but they were normally old and withered. This girl was anything but. A sly smile formed on his lips. 

“Why don’t you just save him with your ‘magic’ then?” 

“I am asking you to do something that is not of the natural world. Magic can’t do anything unnatural. I’m begging you, Mr. Nikiforov, please help. You’re the only person who can.” 

Victor narrowed his eyes at the girl. He gave a slight laugh, “Alright, I’ll help you.” 

“Really-” 

“But I have two conditions.” 

“Anything.” 

“The first condition is that you admit machinery is far superior to magic-” 

“Are you really that shallow?” 

“... and the second condition is that, once I have healed him, he will stay with me and become my assistant.” 

“What? How could you request something like that? You’re insane!” 

“Well, farewell then.” 

“Wait!” 

Victor smirked. He knew she would come around. She had no other choice. 

“Do it,” she said quietly, “Just please save him.”

Victor escorted the mage inside. He brought her and her companion over to his work table. Scooting his current project out of the way, Victor made room for her to lay him down. She carefully nudged the man onto the table. It was only then that, in the light of the workshop, Victor noticed a light emitting from her hands that went to the man’s chest.

“What are you doing to him?” Victor asked. 

“I’m keeping him alive with healing magic. It won’t last very long. You need to work quickly.” 

“Right,” Victor started digging out his tools and placing parts on the worktable where the man lay. Katsuki Mari looked on with curiosity as Victor laid his head next to his heart. The beating was slow and irregular. His heart was failing. 

“His heart isn’t working properly,” Victor announced. 

“He has always had a bad heart, but I never thought it would come to this.” 

“Yes, well we never expect the worst.” 

“How are you going to help him?” she asked, worried.

Victor walked over to a smaller table across the room. 

“Like this,” he spoke, pressing a button and bringing his newest creation to life. A life-sized dog came bounding out from under the table. Only this dog wasn’t made of fur and bones. Cogs and wires came out of her crevices and her metal feet made a clicking sound against the floor. 

“This is Makkachin.” 

“You created life?!” Katsuki Mari asked, clearly appalled.

“No, I imitated life. It’s much different.” 

The dog moved around the lab, imitating a normal dog and exploring every corner she could find. Victor almost laughed at her antics. He did a great job on her. 

“Makkachin needs to be recharged every 23 hours for one hour in order to run properly. Your brother will be the same. I will give him a new heart to pump the blood.” 

“You’re turning him into a machine?” 

“No, I’m simply giving him a new heart. It’s not as terrible as you make it out to be, dear.” 

Mari frowned at him but didn’t press further. She simply opened her mouth and spoke, “Alright. I can keep him alive while you work, but do it quickly.” 

Victor nodded and got to work immediately. The sounds of Makkachin’s padding feet reminding him that he was completely capable of performing this task. He pulled together his tools and parts and began his work. 

Mari watched him carefully as if examining for one wrong move. Victor worked diligently nonetheless, though the silence was a bit too awkward for him. 

“So, why do you study magic?” he asked, trying to make conversation, “The magical creatures of old are dead. Dragons, gnomes, fairies… they’re all gone. Magic is hardly useful anymore.” 

“I practice magic because it is more useful than you think. It’s natural, unlike your hard machinery. It is of the world.” 

“A world that is changing.” 

“Yes I suppose, but magic changes too.” 

“Does it?” Victor mocked. He didn’t believe that for a second. 

Mari didn’t say any more, though Victor could tell she wished to rebuttal. It was smart of her to keep quiet, though. 

Eventually, Mari spoke again, “Is this similar machinery as your arm?” 

Victor stopped working at the question and turned to her. 

“My arm is none of your concern.” 

The mage looked away, not wanting to anger him anymore. Victor felt a phantom pain in his left arm, but he ignored it. He knew it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Victor’s arm had been gone for three years, after all. It was replaced with cold, hard metal. Despite this, the metal arm was incredibly nimble and moved with even more intricacy than a real arm. It was perfect for his work. Victor sighed, the pain in his arm growing stronger. He dared to ignore it, for the man in front of him was dying. He couldn’t afford to deal with the pain. 

The next several hours were filled with interesting back-and-forth between the mage and the machinist. It was easier, Victor found, to concentrate when he had someone engaging with him. He knew better what to do when he was explaining it to the mage. She didn’t even know the basics of machinery, which annoyed Victor slightly. It was kind of fun to explain everything like he used to do, but she should be able to know basic machine functions. 

“So,” Mari said when they had a break in their conversation, “Why here? Why did you leave behind the empire you built?” 

“I didn’t leave it, I simply wished to be left alone. I still talk to the companies that use my products and work to improve them. I was tired of being asked for things. Here, I can mostly work on what interests me. All the other things were… boring. Very boring.” 

“So that’s what your work is to you? A challenge? Fun?” 

“It used to be.” 

“You used to be a doctor, right? Why would you leave behind such a noble career for one in machinery?”

“I got tired of watching my patients die,” Victor said in a stone cold voice, “I thought maybe I could help them with this new era of machinery. Turns out that I actually enjoyed this more. It’s as simple as that.” 

“And now you’re combining the two, just like you originally planned.” 

“It’s like you keep poking me with a stick. Do you want my help or not? I can still stop.” 

“Sorry.” 

The whirl of the machinery behind him was all that filled the room now, as Katsuki Mari was afraid to speak. She was afraid of offending him. Victor sighed. 

“So, what’s his name?” 

“What?” 

“This man. Your brother. What is his name?” 

“Names hold power, you know.”

“Good, then I might be able to fix him properly.” 

Mari looked to the ground, “His name is Yuuri. Katsuki Yuuri.” 

And why have you gone to so much trouble for this ‘Katsuki Yuuri.’”

“I love him. He is my brother. I would do anything for him.” 

Victor didn’t say anything, just thinking about her words. Victor had been motivated by many things in his life: money, power, passion, but never a love for anything except his work. He supposed he could understand a little, but, really, he didn’t. Why would anyone sacrifice everything just to save one person? It just didn’t make sense. 

“There,” Victor said when the heart was completed. It didn’t look much like a heart, but it would function just fine. Victor stood holding the clockwork heart in his hand. 

“Now we just need to place it in his chest. Can you keep him alive without a heart?” 

“Not for very long.” 

“That’s all we need.” 

Victor fetched his medical tools, brushing the dust off them as he rushed back to the table. He hadn’t used these in a long time, but they would have to do. If his medical teacher could see him now, she would be rolling in her grave. 

The time had come. Victor looked up at Katsuki Mari and she seemed to understand. She had to try harder than ever to keep him alive. One wrong move from either of them could end in disaster. Normally, Victor would never have trusted a magic-wielder with something so precious, but this mage was his only option at this point. Surely he could trust her with her own brother’s life. 

Victor took in a deep breath, picked up a scalpel, and spoke, “Shall we begin?”


	2. New Life

When Yuuri opened his eyes a week ago, he thought he might be in heaven. But then he realized that heaven probably didn’t have whirling machines and steam everywhere unless he was mistaken. 

_“Hello?” Yuuri called into the noisy room._

_“Ah, you’re awake. Good. I’ll alert Mari immediately.”_

_Yuuri turned to see what looked like an angel. He might be in heaven after all. A man with a dark lab coat, goggles, and gorgeous silver hair spoke into a device words that Yuuri couldn’t quite understand. Yuuri tried to swing his feet off the hard table he was sitting on, but a strange feeling in his chest stopped him in his tracks. What was wrong with him?_

_“I wouldn’t move so much if I were you, your body is still healing from the procedure.”_

_Procedure? What procedure? The last thing Yuuri could remember was a strange feeling in his chest before blacking out. Why was he here in this strange man’s lab?_

_“Yuuri!” a familiar voice sounded. Mari came bounding down a flight of stairs, nearly tripping over herself in excitement._

_“Mari!” Yuuri held out his arms for his sister to run into. He didn’t know why she was here, of why he was here for that matter, but it didn’t matter. Mari was okay._

_Mari took the next several minutes to outline what had happened. As it turned out, Yuuri was sitting in the lab of the famous Victor Nikiforov. An inventor. Mari must have been extremely desperate to come to him for help. They were mages after all, and mages didn’t typically get along well with machinists._

_When Mari go to the part about Yuuri having a new heart, Yuuri quickly unbuttoned his shirt and opened it. Down his chest was a long scar that had been sealed with a piece of metal sticking out of the bottom. So it was true. The ticking in Yuuri’s ears was coming from inside him, not from the machines. He looked up at Mari with a sad face._

_“I have a new heart?”_

_“It was the only way to save you, Yuuri. And it came at a cost, a large cost.”_

_“Mari, we don’t have the money-”_

_“No, Yuuri. The cost is not money. It’s your service. You are now to live with and assist Mr. Nikiforov in his work. It was a part of the deal. I’m sorry, Yuuri. It was the only way. If I could take your place I would have, but he insisted. I know it’s horrible-”_

_Yuuri stopped her, “You did the right thing. I’m just happy to be alive.”_

_Mari smiled and hugged her brother. When she pulled away, Yuuri decided to ask something that had been on his mind since he looked at his chest._

_“Why is there a metal piece sticking out of my chest?”_

_“That,” Mr. Nikiforov said, coming across the room to the duo, “is to recharge your heart. You’ll need to hook up to a machine every 23 hours for one hour to stay alive. Other than that, the heart works great. One of my finest works, actually.”_

_Yuuri could feel bile rising in his throat as the man talked about him like he was an experiment. Mr. Nikiforov seemed to notice his displeasure and frowned._

_“I didn’t mean to upset you, Yuuri. I apologize. I thought you’d be happy to know that your heart is top-notch.”_

_That surprised Yuuri. He thought that the man would be as arrogant as he first appeared. Mari seemed surprised too, but she didn’t say anything._

_Yuuri thought to himself that, although he didn’t die, he might as well be living a new life. No longer did he have a life of magic and freedom, but a life of servitude and machinery. That, he decided, was a fate much different than dying. Whether it was a good different or a bad different was yet to be seen._

“Yuuri!” Victor called, yanking Yuuri from his thoughts. Yuuri looked away from the window he was gazing through to see the strange scientist below. Spreading his wings, Yuuri flew down to meet him before shifting back into a human from his bird form. Victor jumped, holding his mechanical hand over his heart. 

“Stop doing that! You’re scaring me. Plus, what if it ruins your heart? We don’t have another one on hand.” 

“Sorry, Mr. Nikiforov.” 

“It’s Victor.” 

“Sorry, Victor.” 

Victor sighed, leaning against a work table. He ran his metal hand through his silver hair in displeasure. Yuuri was sorry to have upset him, as Victor was generally a nice man, but it gave him slight satisfaction to stress the man who sealed his fate as an assistant. 

“Anyway,” Victor continued, “I need you to be ready to hand me some tools. Come.” 

Yuuri followed his master through the lab. They passed a torn green curtain on their way, the same curtain that Yuuri wasn’t allowed to go behind. Sometimes Yuuri wanted to look behind it in defiance, but he had yet to be upset enough to do so. He wondered what could possibly be behind it that Yuuri wasn’t supposed to see. He was his assistant, after all, shouldn’t he get to know all of his dirty little secrets? There had to be some perk to his job. 

Victor reached his current project, a tall steam-powered lamp post that was daylight activated, and climbed up a ladder. Yuuri didn’t know why Victor thought the lamp posts needed to be self-sufficient, as the people who lit the lamp posts were doing just fine themselves, but he learned at the beginning of his week of service that “everything can be improved if you just look at it hard enough.” Victor said that to Yuuri periodically, as if he hadn’t heard him the first few times. 

At the top of the ladder, Victor called down for tools that Yuuri was to hand up. 

“Wrench,” he said tartly. 

Yuuri handed him the tool. 

“This is a screwdriver.” 

“Well, I’m not an expert!” 

“Just hand me the wrench.” 

“Which one is that.” 

“The one that looks like it could twist a circle.” 

“This one?” 

“No.” 

“This one?” 

“Yes, now hand it to me before my other arm falls off.” 

Yuuri handed him the wrench, surprised that Victor even mentioned his metal arm. Whenever someone mentioned it, he always got defensive and brushed the subject away. 

Yuuri handed Victor tools for what felt like an hour. Why Victor couldn’t just build a machine to hand him tools was beyond Yuuri, but he never mentioned it to his boss. Finally, Victor climbed down from the ladder and brushed the sweat off his forehead. 

“Good job, Yuuri. You got the hang of it eventually.” 

“Thanks,” Yuuri said dully. 

“Now I want you to work on your own invention.” 

“What?” 

“It’s the easiest way to learn. I have books you can study to help you. It doesn’t have to be anything big.” 

“I can’t invent a machine!” 

“Yes, you can. If you’re going to be my assistant, you’re going to need to know how to build machines. It’s probably just like… mixing a potion? You mages do that, right? Parts and components go together to make something else. I’ll help you with whatever you need.” 

Yuuri sighed but didn’t argue. It was no use. Victor was quite persistent. Soon, Yuuri gave a cough. It must be from all the dust in the lab. He needed to clean the place sometime. It was filthy. Yuuri gave another cough. And another. His chest started to hurt and he felt lightheaded. What was going on?

“Yuuri, can you- Yuuri?” 

Yuuri fell against a worktable and coughed. Victor gasped and grabbed him before dragging him over to the bed that he had set up in the corner of the shop. He sat Yuuri on it and unbuttoned his shirt. Pulling at a long cord, he plugged it into the piece of metal in Yuuri’s chest. Soon, Yuuri stopped coughing and could breathe normally again. He was fine. Victor, however, was not fine. He was angry. 

“Yuuri, how could you do that?! You could have died! You have to always remember to charge your heart.” 

“I’m sorry. I forgot.” 

“Why don’t you just do it when you are sleeping?” 

“It’s loud.” 

“Everything in the lab is loud!” 

“Yes, I know!” 

At that Victor’s angry face fell into one that was sadder. He sighed. 

“If I could get you a room upstairs, I would. There just isn’t enough room.” 

“Down here is fine. I’m sorry for snapping, Victor.” 

Victor sighed, “Alright. You sit here and take a break while you recharge. Don’t do anything reckless, okay?” 

Victor went back to working on his inventions. Many of the things Yuuri didn’t understand the purpose of, even after Victor explained them. Something about factories and efficiency… Yuuri wasn’t sure. He took that moment to lay down on his bed and try to close his eyes. Due to the noise in the lab, he hadn’t gotten much sleep the last few days. Maybe this would be his chance to recover. 

Yuuri’s nap was soon cut short by the sound of a knock on the lab door. He opened his eyes, unsure of how long they had been closed, and looked towards the sound. Victor soon looked through his peephole and opened the door to reveal a long-haired, blond teenager on the other side. It was Victor’s messenger. After he sealed himself away from the world, Victor needed some way to contact the people who depended on him to maintain his inventions. As a result, he hired a messenger who was one of the only people to know Victor’s location. The lanky teen walked on crutches, but Victor trusted him as a stealthy ally. Maybe his disability made him less susceptible? Yuuri wasn’t sure. Either way, the teen was cranky towards everyone he came across. 

“Here’s your letters, old man,” he spoke to Victor. 

Victor simply smiled, “Thank you, Yurio.” 

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

“You have the same name as Yuuri, so I can’t call you ‘Yuri!’”

The teen simply rolled his eyes and turned away from the door. Victor waved to him as he hobbled away, aware that he wasn’t actually looking at him. He closed the door and brought his messages over to the lab table. Yuuri unplugged himself from his machine and walked over to see what Victor got. It was nice to get some sort of information from the outside world.

“Looks like there’s only one message today,” Victor said while undoing the envelope. It seemed to be from some random factory that Victor supplied. Yuuri sighed. Nothing interesting. 

Yuuri was soon proved wrong when Victor screamed. 

“What!?” 

Yuuri rushed to his side and ripped the letter out of his hands. He read. 

_Dear Mr. Nikiforov, I’m sorry to inform you that the magic extremists who have been terrorizing Hasetsu as of late have bombed one of our factories. Your machines have been destroyed. Details as to which machines and which factory are enclosed below. We hope to have your continued support in the rebuilding of our business._

Yuuri gasped. He knew there were magical terrorists in Hasetsu, but he didn’t know they would go this far. The magical extremists wanted to bring back the magical days of old and be rid of all the machinery in the kingdom and world. They wished to build a new world. Yuuri thought the idea was nice, but their tactics were horrendous. They magically bombed places and broke the most sacred rules of magic. They couldn’t be trusted. He threw the letter on the ground, mumbling to himself. Victor was fuming. 

“How dare they? Those factories are my life’s work!” 

“Victor, it’s going to be alright. You still have the blueprints in your library I’m sure-” 

“You’re right, you’re right. We can just rebuild. It just makes me so mad! Stupid mages think that they can just reverse progress!” 

“Hey!” Yuuri said, “Those aren’t mages. They’re terrorists. They don’t even follow the rules of magic.” 

“Why are there even rules in magic? Why hold yourself back?” 

“To protect the natural world.” 

“Natural this, natural that! How is there anything natural about turning into a bird!?” Victor started flapping his arms to imitate Yuuri’s bird form. Yuuri tried not to laugh but found himself hiding a small giggle. 

The duo eventually went back to work - Yuuri working on arranging the blueprints for delivery and Victor working on whatever it was that Victor did. They stood side-by-side at the worktable, and Yuuri couldn’t help but look over to peek at what Victor was doing from time to time. As much as he didn’t understand machinery, it was quite fascinating. How did all those small parts and pieces come together to create something so amazing? Yuuri could only hope to understand someday. 

Opening the blueprints, Yuuri noticed Victor’s curly, messy signature at the top of the sheet. It was fading. He reached for a pencil to darken it. As he did so, his hand brushed something warm and metal. Yuuri looked up. It was Victor’s hand. He pulled away quickly and awkwardly gestured to the pencil. 

“Uh, you can have it first.” 

Victor, who was staring at Yuuri, seemed caught off guard by the comment, “Oh, uh, right. Thank you.” 

He took the pencil and marked something on his machine before handing it back to Yuuri. The intricacy and gentleness of Victor’s mechanical arm amazed Yuuri as he grabbed the pencil from its grip. Truly, his new master was an interesting man. His new life had lots of mysteries and uncertainties, but one thing was for sure: it was going to be like nothing he had ever experienced before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This story was extremely inspired by the song "The Girl and the Clockwork Dragon" by The Cog is Dead, which I found to be an awesome song in an of itself! Don't worry, the plotline of the song and of the story are very different, so there won't be any spoilers! Thanks again! 
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	3. The Dragon

“Yuuri! Are you ready to go?” Victor shouted to his assistant. 

“Yes!” Yuuri came running from somewhere deep in the lab. Victor had to smile. For his fate, Yuuri seemed rather happy and enjoyable to be around. He seemed content. It made Victor wonder if he was doing something right. He didn’t want him to feel tortured, after all. Victor looked down at his shoes. Did Yuuri feel trapped? 

“I’m ready!” Yuuri beamed, having put on his best (yet admittedly quite ugly) clothing and cleaned himself up a bit. They were only going to deliver blueprints for the reconstruction of the bombed factories, but Victor didn’t want his assistant looking mangey. This would have to do. Victor sighed. 

“Here,” he handed Yuuri a small mechanism. 

“Is this a gun?” Yuuri gawked. 

“Yes. I don’t think you’ll need it, but it’s better to be safe than to be sorry. Many people want my work, and some will try dangerous tactics to get it.” 

“Are you carrying one too?” 

Victor pushed aside his coat to show his own gun on his belt, “Always.” 

Yuuri’s looked down at the gun that sat awkwardly in his hands. He put it on his belt as if he were afraid it might go off at any moment. Victor didn’t say anything, but he thought that maybe he should have trained Yuuri on how to use the gun before giving it to him. Well, it was too late now. They needed to leave. 

Victor made sure Yuuri had the proper blueprints and then pushed out into the street. The street they lived on wasn’t much. In fact, if you looked at it at night, it was nearly abandoned. However, since it wasn’t night, there were a few stragglers who didn’t pay the duo much mind. For that, Victor was grateful. He didn’t want to draw any attention to himself. 

The two made their way into the city quickly. Victor led the way, checking back to make sure Yuuri was still behind him every now and then. He always was. It was a somewhat long trek to get to their location, but Victor didn’t entirely mind walking. He spent most of his days in a dark lab, after all. He wasn’t sure how Yuuri would feel though, so he kept checking up on him. 

“Are you doing alright?” Victor asked for the third time. 

“Yes, Victor, I am fine. I have been fine. I will be fine. I can walk, you know.” 

“Just wanted to be sure. We don’t know how your heart will react to strenuous activity.” 

Yuuri rolled his eyes but said nothing. They kept on walking. 

Soon, Victor could see their location in the distance. He pointed to a tower rising up with the steam of the city. 

“There’s our rendezvous point,” Victor said to Yuuri. 

“It looks really official,” Yuuri commented. 

“It is the control building for multiple factories here in Kugokuni. So, yes, it is very official.” 

Victor and Yuuri approached the entrance where a man stood, waiting. He held his hands behind his back and looked forward with a blank stare. Victor approached him and held out a hand. 

“Victor Nikiforov. I’m expected.”

The man wordlessly held open the door to the main building and followed Victor and Yuuri inside. He pressed a button on a panel and the elevator door opened. Victor stepped inside followed by a very confused Yuuri. When the doors closed, Yuuri turned to Victor. 

“Is this an elevator?” 

“Yes.”

“Amazing, I’ve never been inside one before.” 

Yuuri’s childlike wonder caught Victor’s attention. It was kind of… cute? Victor wasn’t sure. Either way, he couldn’t stop looking at the man until the elevator doors opening drew his attention away. 

“Victor!” a gruff man said, pulling him from the elevator, “It’s been too long!” 

“Yes, Yakov, it has.”

“Who is this?” 

“This is Yuuri, my assistant.” 

Yakov walked over to Yuuri and held out a hand to him, “Lucky you. Not many people get to see Victor now that he has left the business.” 

“I haven’t left-”

“Yes, you have! You completely abandoned your life’s work for nothing!” Yakov took a deep breath, “But enough of that, let’s get to business.” 

“Right. Yuuri.” 

At his name, Yuuri presented the briefcase full of blueprints to Yakov. After glancing over them, he had an assistant come and take them away. Yakov came to put an arm around Victor as if he were going to lead him over for tea when an explosion sounded from behind them. 

“What was that?” Yakov shouted. 

When they turned, they saw a group of people standing in the room as if they’d come through the new gaping hole in the wall. As they were on a top floor, Victor wasn’t sure how they got up there. Then it occurred to him. Magic. These must be the magic extremists who blew up the factories too. 

“Give us the blueprints,” one of them demanded. 

“And who are you to tell me what to do?” Yakov demanded. 

The magician raised his hands, “You shouldn’t have asked that, old man.” 

The magician brought forth fire in his hands and began to shoot it at the trio. They all ducked out of the way in time and Victor pulled out his gun. He looked to make sure Yuuri was alright and moved into position to begin shooting. Only he wasn’t fast enough. Yuuri stood from behind his hiding place and shot light beams at the extremists. One fell to the ground and another flew away at the magic being thrown at them. The man in front got hit by one in the shoulder and fell to the ground clutching his wound. The rest of the extremists tried to push forward but were stopped when they saw Yuuri readying another attack. Victor pulled out his gun and aimed at them, making sure to keep his face cold. He couldn’t show weakness. The extremists fled the scene quickly, turning into birds and flying away. Victor didn’t try to shoot any of them down. That would only anger them more. The important thing was that the blueprints were alright. 

Victor turned to Yuuri, “You saved us.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say that-” 

“You have a magic-user as your assistant?” Yakov gasped. 

“Yes, and he just saved our lives!” 

“Interesting,” Yakov said, eyeing Yuuri. He didn’t seem too upset, mostly curious. Victor turned to the dead and injured magicians lying on the floor. The injured leader tried shaping into a bird, but his form kept falling apart. Victor pointed his gun at him. 

“Don’t move!” 

The man stopped moving and glared at Victor. 

“Yuuri, go get the police-” 

“No, I’ll send my assistant. I don’t want to be without him if they come back.” 

So, after a while, the police arrived and questioned everyone involved. After the questioning and making sure the blueprints got delivered to their proper place, Yuuri and Victor headed back to the lab quickly. The sun was already going down, and they still had things to do that day. Once they got there, Yuuri closed the door behind them and took a deep breath. He smiled at Victor. 

“Glad we made it out of that one!” he joked. 

“Yuuri, how were you able to do that? You took on a group of magicians on your own and won! That’s amazing!” 

Yuuri blushed and looked at the ground, “Well, I’m just another magician-” 

“No, I think you’re much more than that,” Victor walked up to Yuuri and pushed his chin up to meet Victor’s eyes. He studied them, suddenly realizing how close they were. Yuuri’s blush deepened. So he felt it too. 

Victor pulled away and made a dramatic turn towards Yuuri.

“Follow me.” 

The confused assistant followed Victor through the lab and towards the back. Once he reached the torn green curtain that Victor had told Yuuri to never go behind, Victor stopped. Yuuri’s eyes widened. 

“I want to show you something. I think that you deserve to see it since you saved my life and my work today.” 

“Victor, you don’t have to-” 

“I want to, Yuuri. Trust me, you’re going to love it.” 

Victor threw back the curtain to reveal the project he had been working on for many weeks now: the clockwork dragon. Yuuri gasped at the large machine and took a tentative step forward, prompting Victor to gesture for him to continue. Yuuri walked forward and reached out to touch the clockwork beast. He drew his hand back and turned to Victor. 

“This is amazing!” he cheered. 

Victor smiled, “I thought you might think so. I studied the dragons of old to make it lifesize. It’s about twenty-three feet tall. That’s an average height for a male dragon.” 

“It’s huge!” 

“Yes, and it will be able to breathe fire once it is completed. The only problem is that it has a way longer charging time than you and Makka. I hope to add some-” 

Yuuri pulled Victor into a hug. 

“Stop talking,” Yuuri mumbled into his chest, “just let me thank you.” 

Victor blushed, suddenly glad Yuuri couldn’t see him with his face buried in his coat. 

When Yuuri finally pulled away, it almost seemed as if he had tears in his eyes. He turned back to the unfinished dragon and sighed. 

“This is probably the closest I’ll ever get to seeing a real one.” 

Victor’s heart fell. He knew that it was mostly the machinist’s fault that Yuuri would never be able to see a real dragon. He was one of them. One of the people who took Yuuri’s magical world away from him. After all, those creatures needed magic to survive, and they only wanted to take away magic. But, after today, Victor was starting to see magic in a new light. Maybe it wasn’t so useless. It did save his life, after all. Victor smiled sadly at Yuuri.

“Come, let’s work on it.” 

The two spent the rest of their time working on the clockwork dragon. Victor continued to teach Yuuri how the machinery worked and prompted him to work on some of it by himself. Although he was nervous, Yuuri never messed up his work. 

“Very good, Yuuri,” Victor smiled. 

“Thanks, Victor.” 

Soon enough, it was way too late into the night for the duo to continue working. Yuuri told Victor that it was time he should go to bed, and Victor reluctantly agreed with his assistant. Although Victor had his own room upstairs, he normally just fell down on a lab table which he had affixed with blankets and pillows. Going up the stairs, after all, was a difficult task when one was running only on pure adrenaline. Victor plopped onto the table, much to Yuuri’s amusement, and Yuuri laid down next to his charging machine. Makkachin lay next to him unmoving and charging, her metal body providing little comfort. Victor closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep among the whirling of the machines. It wasn’t working. Something was bothering him. 

“Yuuri?” Victor asked softly, trying not to wake him. 

“Yes, Victor?” 

“I was wondering, what did you do today when they attacked us? Why were they so scared of you?” 

“I was using light magic. It’s not common among magicians. I guess you could say it’s a bit… advanced.” 

Just like Yuuri to undermine his own achievement. Victor figured that this “light magic” must have been extremely powerful to take down all those magicians. He sighed. 

“Yuuri, have you ever considered that, just maybe, you’re one of the best magicians of our time?” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say that-” 

“But it’s true! Those terrorists are surely all well-versed in their practice. And you scared them. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been there, Yuuri. You’re special. In more than just magic, of course, but definitely in that aspect too. I can’t believe that I’ve met someone so incredible.” 

“Thank you, Victor. But, when you think about it, you’re pretty incredible too.” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“You’ve invented so much and still aren’t satisfied. You’d rather keep working despite all the progress you’ve already made. It’s… infectious I suppose.” 

Victor had been called amazing many times before, but, this time, it seemed different. Yuuri was different. A good kind of different. Victor smiled in the dark. 

“Well, I hope that we can continue to be incredible together.” 

Victor couldn’t see it, but he was sure Yuuri was smiling too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to crank out this chapter. School just started and I'm still getting into the swing of things (and back into my regular procrastinating/writing habits.) I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I just wanted to put something out. I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Shopping

Yuuri pulled off the goggles on his head and nodded to Victor. They were a good fit. Victor added them to his growing basket of supplies and began to move on. They were shopping for supplies, and Victor had been so kind as to buy Yuuri his own pair of goggles. Using Victor’s old ones was fine, but having his own pair made Yuuri feel like more of the process. It was silly he supposed, but why not indulge when your boss is extremely comfortable monetarily? Of course Victor didn’t typically live like he was new money, tending to sleep on worktables instead of his actual bed, but he definitely liked to show off while shopping. 

Victor lazily tossed parts and tools into his basket, giving each one a glance and a shrug to determine if they were usable. Apparently, in his crazy mind, most things were. The sales clerk cowering behind them would try, he really would, but he just couldn't get past Victor’s machine-like knowledge. 

“That,” the clerk spoke, “is a beautiful-” 

“Gold-plated gear set. Beautiful indeed. Don’t you think, Yuuri?” 

Yuuri nodded. Victor kept asking for his opinion even though he knew Yuuri didn’t know much about machines. He also would never address the sales clerk, always turning to Yuuri for advice. Yuuri appreciated the sentiment, but the clerk surely knew better than him. 

“Beautiful, but not very practical. Maybe something that would work better on a children’s toy than a machine. Well, I suppose we should get it just in case.” Victor tossed the gears into his basket and moved on, the clerk trailing behind him. Yuuri rolled his eyes. In what world would they be making children’s toys in his professional lab? 

They continued on, Victor tossing nearly everything into his basket or ordering the clerk to take it to be delivered. Yuuri stopped paying attention. He looked around at the large shop’s extravagant workings. From the ceiling hung a large clockwork sculpture. It didn’t look like much to Yuuri, but he was sure Victor would have a lot to say about it. Victor was so smart. And professional. And handsome. 

“Yuuri?” Victor asked.

Yuuri snapped out of his dreaming, “Yes?” 

“What do you think of this?” 

“I think that you would know more than I.” 

Victor looked at the part he was holding as if it were the most interesting thing in the world, “I suppose you are right.” 

Yuuri turned away again, looking among the parts for something he might find useful for the project Victor was making him work on. He had no idea what to make. Victor was persistent that it didn’t have to be anything special, just something that he had come up with himself. Yuuri sighed. He wasn’t well-versed in the world of machinery. This was like asking a dancer to juggle. 

The duo went up to pay for their items. When Yuuri saw the bill, he nearly fainted. Surely, even someone as comfortable as Victor couldn’t just splurge like that. Nevertheless, Victor didn’t seem phased. He just began to fill out the information. Yuuri looked away from the bill and tried to distract himself. His eyes caught on a sparkling pendant hanging from a board. It seemed to be a brooch. He got closer and saw that it was something closer to his heart than he could have expected. It was a clockwork fairy. It was clearly just for decoration, as it didn’t move or offer much use mechanically, but it was still beautiful. Its delicate wings that indicated its species shimmered under the harsh light of the room, and it struck a pose magic-users knew to be special: the meditative position. With your arms folded neatly and your hands over your heart, you could attach yourself to the world around you. Her bottom half seemed to be in more of a dancer’s position, with one leg crossed over the other. It was an uncommon pose, but he suspected that it would still work with the proper training. Whoever made it must have been knowledgeable in both machinery and magic.

“Do you like that?” the shy clerk asked, “It was crafted by a master sculptor and inventor in the world of art. Very delicate yet sturdy.” 

“It’s lovely,” Yuuri awed. 

“Add it to our bill,” Victor said suddenly.

“What?” Yuuri gawked. 

The clerk did as he was told and Yuuri tried to make sense of what Victor had done. Surely, he meant to keep it for himself? That would explain everything. But, when the clerk wrapped up the delicate brooch and handed it to Victor, he simply held it out to Yuuri. The look on his face looked as if he were attempting a smile but having a hard time trying to figure out how to do one in this situation. Yuuri timidly took the box. 

“Thank you, Victor,” he said. 

“No need to thank me, I... er… I was hoping that I could see you wear it someday.” 

Yuuri looked down at the floor, blushing, “I hope to wear it someday soon then.” 

Victor’s gaze was burning through Yuuri’s head. He looked up to meet his eyes. The two stared at each other for what seemed like a very long time. A warm feeling rose up in Yuuri’s chest. It wasn’t until the clerk came back that the two looked away. Soon, they were back to their normal selves and on their way home. 

It wasn’t long before they entered Victor’s lab, Yuuri quickly shutting the door behind them. The whirling and loud noises of the workplace had come to feel like home to Yuuri, and his chest felt calmer than it had when they were out and about. Yuuri took in a deep breath of burning coal and gear grease. This was home now. Victor sat his armful of items down on a semi-empty worktable and began to shuffle through it. Yuuri quickly followed in suit, putting everything where it belonged. Or rather where he thought it belonged, as Victor didn’t seem to keen on organization. Yuuri made a mental note to clean the lab sometime. 

Victor got back to work immediately, leaving Yuuri to wonder what to do next. He didn’t have to wonder long when a knock came from the door. Yuuri opened it to see the boy Victor called “Yurio” standing there with paper in his hands. He shoved them into Yuuri’s chest. 

“Here. Tell the old man his mail is here. Looks important.” 

The boy walked off, leaving Yuuri to stare after him. He soon realized that he was letting in cold air and walked back into the lab. Victor met him and grabbed the mail wordlessly before shuffling through the pile. He didn’t seem interested in much of it until he came to a golden-paper envelope with a red seal. Yuuri glanced over Victor’s shoulder and immediately recognized the royal seal. This was a message from the king of Kugokuni. His royal palace sat upon the highest hill in Hasetsu and shone above the whole city. Whatever the letter said, it had to be important. 

Victor opened the letter and dropped the seal on the floor. Yuuri was quick to pick it up and examine it. It wasn’t every day a commoner got to look upon something the king himself had touched. Victor scrunched his nose. 

“What’s the matter?” Yuuri asked. 

“The king has invited us to a ball. That means lots of talking with the high-rollers.” 

“You mean the king has invited _you_ to a ball.” 

“No. He invited us. This says I get a plus one.” 

“Don’t you have someone else to take with you?” 

Victor’s face dropped sadly. Yuuri quickly realized his mistake. 

“Not to say that you don’t have friends, I’m just wondering if someone more important than me might want to go with you.” 

Victor looked at Yuuri sternly, “You’re going. If I have to go, you do too.” 

Yuuri nodded, “Of course.” 

Victor’s expression changed to a smile, “Besides, Yuuri, you are very important to me.” 

Yuuri blushed but didn’t say anything else. Victor turned his attention back to the letter. 

“We will have to buy you a new suit. We can’t have you going to the palace in your ugly cloth.”

“What’s wrong with my suit? It looks fine.” 

Victor laughed, “You’re funny, Yuuri. We have time now. Let’s go before the shops close.” 

Yuuri was about to rebuttal when Victor dragged him from the worktable and pulled him towards the door. They grabbed their coats and headed out onto the cold streets of Hasetsu once again. 

Victor took Yuuri to his favorite suit shop. All the way there Victor gushed about how he loved the suits and how much Yuuri would too. Yuuri tried to act excited, but he wasn’t sure he was going to like this affair. How strange his new life was. He was nothing but a lowly magician and now he was being taken to buy a new suit for a trip to the palace. It was all so surreal. They entered the shop and Victor sung out to the shop-owner. 

“Christophe! It’s Victor! I need a good suit as soon as possible.” 

A rather dashing looking man rounded the corner and lit up when his eyes landed upon Victor. 

“Victor! Mon Cheri! It’s good to see you!” 

Clearly, this man wasn’t from Kugokuni, but he spoke the language very well. He and Victor embraced and greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek like Yuuri had seen some nobles do before. It was an interesting exchange, but Yuuri figured it must be more popular wherever Christophe was from. 

“Yuuri,” Victor said, gesturing to the man, “this is Chris. He’s a longtime friend of mine. He’s going to give you the best suit ever, I promise.” 

Yuuri smiled at the man, knowing that Victor did, in fact, have friends. From the way they were acting, however, it seemed like they hadn’t seen each other in a long while. That concerned Yuuri a bit. 

“Oh, wherever did you find such a beauty, Victor?” Chris asked, examining Yuuri’s body and making him feel slightly uncomfortable. 

“This is Yuuri, my newest assistant.” 

Chris laughed, “You finally found one that won’t run away, eh?” 

Victor’s face turned bright red, “We need a suit,” he said quickly, “for the royal ball. Can you please look into that for us?” 

Chris nodded, “Of course! I’ll be right back. Make yourselves at home.” 

When Chris walked away, Yuuri turned to Victor.

“You’ve had assistants leave before? Why?” 

Victor rubbed the back of his neck, “T-they said I was rude to them…” 

“I haven’t thought you to be rude.” 

“Well, that’s good. Something is different about you, Yuuri. With you, I want to share my work. I want you to help me. It was different with everyone else.”

Yuuri laughed, “Well I can see why they would leave if you didn’t want them there.” 

Victor shrugged, “I suppose.” 

Chris soon returned with three different suits and shoved Yuuri into a changing room. It took all three tries, but the three men finally agreed on a black suit with silver embellishments. Yuuri turned around in the mirror, feeling beautiful. 

“You look great, Mon Cheri, allow me to make a few adjustments.” 

They needed to get the suit tailored, especially in the rear end area, but Chris promised to have it done by the ball. The two left the shop smiling, and Yuuri found himself actually looking forward to the affair. Surely, with Victor at his side, it would be magical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Sorry this chapter is a bit short, but I promise the next one will make up for it! Trust me ;)
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	5. The Ball

Victor wasn’t really one for large parties, but even he had to admit that the king’s balls were extraordinary. People often assumed that Victor was a charismatic, social creature. With his charming persona and bright smile, Victor fooled the poor souls into believing that he wished to be there. In reality, Victor was suffering. These large parties normally involved talking with people who he didn’t care about, dancing with strangers, and trying his hardest to find an excuse to leave. It’s not that Victor disliked socializing, he actually enjoyed the company of other humans, but he didn’t know many people among the high-rollers. He would much rather talk with the bright minds who worked below the streets of Hasetsu. Maybe, with Yuuri at his side tonight, he would be able to enjoy himself. 

Yuuri was making last-minute adjustments to Makkachin’s legs when Victor walked down into the lab. He was wearing his new black and silver suit that Victor bought him, trying hard not to get grease on it as he worked. On his neck was pinned the beautiful brooch that Victor bought him not too long ago. Victor smiled. He was hoping that Yuuri would take this opportunity to wear it tonight. 

Victor himself was wearing a pink and blue suit. Bright colors were a rather new invention in fashion, so only the people with deep pockets could really wear them. Nevertheless, Victor hoped that, soon, everyone would be wearing the same bright colors he got to use. It would make the rather drab people of Hasetsu look much more vibrant. Maybe they could be happier along with it. His inventions were great, of course, but they didn’t help much with morale among the people. Surely, a splash of color would bring a little happiness into the people’s lives. 

Checking his pocket-watch, Victor noticed it was almost time to be heading out. He walked up to Yuuri, who was finishing up on Makkachin’s leg and smiled. 

“You are very good with Makka. It’s almost like you know her.” 

Yuuri smiled, carrying the dog back to her charging port, “I guess you could say we are kindred spirits.” 

Victor smiled sadly, know it was fully his fault for their similarities. Yuuri wiped his hands on a rag and approached Victor, seeming to notice that he was upset. 

“What’s wrong?” Yuuri asked. 

“Nothing,” Victor said, grabbing Yuuri’s hands and looking down at them. He mustered a smile. “You look beautiful.” 

Yuuri’s face turned as pink as Victor’s suit. He looked away. “So do you.” 

Victor was searching for the right words to say next when there was a knock on the door. He turned away and walked to the peephole. It was the footman. 

“The carriage is here,” Victor said. 

Victor knew Yuuri had never ridden in a carriage before, so he helped him up the steps and into the cart. Victor followed soon after, sitting across from his assistant. They talked as the carriage started moving, Yuuri clearly trying his best not to look nervous for the night ahead. Victor decided to try and ease his worries. 

“The people at these things aren’t much different than normal people. Just more judgemental and self-centered and materialistic-” 

“Not helping, Victor.” 

Victor laughed. He supposed Yuuri was right. “What I’m trying to say is, you’ll do fine. You probably won’t even have to talk to many people. And if you do, just brush their ego a little bit. They’ll love you.” 

Yuuri laughed, and Victor relaxed knowing that he calmed him a little bit. They talked a little bit on their way there, but Yuuri mostly looked out the window to see Hasetsu lit up at night. His eyes brightened like they did the day he first was in an elevator for the first time. Victor peeked out the window too and saw the beautiful machine-run city flourishing. He smiled. He had built Hasetsu from below the ground to the tips of the tallest towers. And now he got to appreciate it. 

Yuuri turned to face Victor, “Have you ever been down there?” 

“Down where?” 

“To the underground tunnels below the city where all the machinery is.” 

“Many times, why?” 

Yuuri looked back out the window, “I would like to see it sometime. It’s amazing how this city runs, and I’d just like to see for myself that it isn’t some magic spell.” 

Victor laughed, “What, do you think we have people transforming into animals to run the city?” he joked.

“No! It just seems so surreal. Almost impossible. I’d like to learn how it works.” 

At that, Victor’s eyes grew. No one had ever taken that kind of interest in his work before. He smiled. 

“I would be glad to show you sometime.” 

Soon, the carriage stopped moving, and Yuuri and Victor quickly looked out the window. In their view was the gorgeous lit up castle. Yuuri awed. 

“It’s like its made of a thousand diamonds,” he cooed. 

Victor, who had seen the castle many times, decided to look at Yuuri instead. He loved the way his face lit up in wonder. He wished to see that face again, forever and ever. 

The door opening pulled Victor from his thoughts. Victor got out of the carriage and held out an arm for Yuuri to take. Yuuri took it softly and stepped out, still tentative, as if he didn’t feel like he belonged. 

Victor led Yuuri up the stairs to the palace and handed the guard their invitation. He let them pass and they entered. The inside of the palace was just as gorgeous as the outside. Victor let Yuuri take it all in before leading him to the side of the room where they would be out of the way. He smiled. 

“Isn’t it lovely?” 

“Yes!” 

People around them talked with one another, and, on a further side of the ballroom, some people waltzed. Dancing had become less popular these days with the preference of socializing taking its place. A band performed nonetheless, as the king would want to appease the older generations. Besides, no one would be opposed to good music while socializing. Victor turned to Yuuri and smiled. 

“No need to look so scared. You belong here too.” 

“I really don’t, Victor.” 

Victor laughed, “Maybe you don’t, but do you want to know a secret?” 

Yuuri cocked his eyebrow. 

Victor leaned in close to whisper in Yuuri’s ear, “I think you deserve to be here more than some of these people. You’re magnificent.” 

A blush grew on Yuuri’s face as Victor backed away. Victor smiled. He was glad to make Yuuri so charmed. Yuuri smiled back. Their moment was interrupted by a man tapping his hand on Victor’s shoulder. Victor turned to be face-to-face with a man who seemed slightly familiar, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on where he knew him from. 

“Victor Nikiforov,” the man bowed, “it’s a pleasure to see you again.” 

“The pleasure is mine…” Victor trailed off. 

“Viceroy Sproket,” the man input.

“Right. My apologies-” 

“No apologies needed. I suppose you meet many people in your line of work. Names often allude us.” 

“Thank you for your kindness,” Victor shifted towards Yuuri, “To what do I owe this pleasure?” 

“Ah, of course. I was wondering if you’d join me for a dance?” the Viceroy held out his hand for Victor to take. Victor looked at it for a moment before taking Yuuri’s arm. 

“Actually, I have already promised Mr. Katsuki here that I would save my first dance for him. My apologies. Perhaps at a later time?” 

The man slowly took his hand away, “Of course.” He nodded to Yuuri and walked away. 

Yuuri turned to Victor, “You never promised me a dance.” 

Victor began to lead Yuuri towards the dancers, “I thought it was implied. You are my guest after all.” 

“I think you just wanted an excuse to not dance with that man.” 

Victor smiled, “You know me so well.” 

Once they made it to the dancers, Victor held up Yuuri’s hand and placed his other on his hip. Yuuri did the same. Before they could begin, Yuuri spoke. 

“I’m not entirely sure how to dance,” he said.

“Don’t worry, just follow my lead.” 

Victor led the two across the dance floor. Surprisingly, Yuuri took to it quite well. They glided across the floor and Victor almost thought the room to be floating. He smiled while looking deeply into Yuuri’s eyes. Surely, the only thing that could make that moment better was if they were back home in his workshop alone. Victor made a mental note to create a machine that could replicate music, so, someday, that dream could come true. 

When the music ended, the couple stopped and applauded. It wasn’t long before they were approached by a royal page. He bowed to Victor and spoke. 

“You are personally invited into the king’s meeting room.” 

Victor frowned, “Invited. You mean commanded, I presume.” 

The pageboy flinched, “Of course, Mr. Nikiforov.” 

Victor sighed, “Yuuri, I’ll be back in a moment-” 

“You can bring him with you if you please,” the pageboy interrupted, “King’s request.” 

Victor was surprised but tried not to let it show, “Alright, then. Let’s go, Yuuri.” 

They followed the pageboy through the royal halls and away from the loud music. Soon, they arrived at the king’s meeting room. Sitting in a large chair was the king of Kugokuni himself. Positioned around him were royal attendants of all kinds. A couple viceroys, though Victor noted Viceroy Sproket was absent, and dukes were present as well, but they seemed to be talking to themselves. The prince and next in line for the throne sat watching, though he didn’t say much. Victor bowed to the king and Yuuri followed in suit. The king allowed them to rise. 

“Victor Nikiforov, what a pleasure it is to see you again!” the old king smiled. 

“Greetings, your majesty. It’s always a joy to see your smiling face,” Victor lied. He knew that, if the king called him here, he wanted something. He just had to figure out what that was.

“And who is this that you have brought with you this evening? Has the great Victor Nikiforov finally settled down?” 

Victor almost blushed, but held back, “This is Katsuki Yuuri, my assistant.” 

“Well, good thing he is here with us, as I’m sure he will be helping you with this next project.” 

“What project?” 

“Victor, we have made everything mechanical. Lights, sounds, work, but we have yet to create a physical version of the one thing people want most. Love.” 

“Oh? What could you possibly do with artificial love?

“Everything. We could build machines with the work ethic of humans. We could sell love to those who have none. It’ll put Hasetsu on the map. Finally, we will have something that will give us an even bigger leap ahead of London, and I need you to do it.” 

Yuuri stiffened. Had he not been paying attention to his assistant, Victor wouldn’t have noticed. Something was wrong. 

“Your majesty, I have no idea if this will work-” 

“You must try. For me. For Hasetsu. For you.” 

Victor swallowed. This was the strangest task he had ever been given. He put on a smile. 

“As my king demands.” 

The king broke out into a grin, “Thank you, Victor, you have no idea how much I owe to you. You may be going now.” 

The duo turned to leave, but the king called out. 

“And, Yuuri,” he said. Yuuri turned to face him. “It was lovely to meet you.” 

“And you as well, your majesty.” 

____________________

 

“What’s wrong?” Victor asked as soon as the couple got home.

“What do you mean?” Yuuri asked. 

“You’ve been acting weird ever since we talked with the king. I thought you were just overwhelmed, but you keep acting strangely. Like you’re not really here. Care to explain?” 

“I’m fine-” 

“No, you’re not.” 

“Alright, something is wrong, but you’re not going to agree with me.” 

“What?” 

“The king can’t do something like that! Making artificial love… it’s unnatural! You can’t replicate love. Love is something special and precious. It’s when you know something is true, not something to be tarnished with fakeness! It’s absurd! And horrific! Why would he do something like that? I don’t understand!” 

Victor walked up to Yuuri, staring into his brown eyes, “And how do you know what love is?” 

Victor wasn’t sure what answer he was expecting, but he certainly wasn’t expecting the answer he got. 

After staring into his eyes for mere moments, Yuuri leaned up and kissed Victor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I just finished my high school's production of Cinderella (I was the evil stepmother) so this chapter felt kind of familiar to me. I hope you enjoyed! <3
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	6. Love?

Yuuri was surprised with himself. He stepped back. Had he really just kissed Victor Nikiforov? He looked down to the floor and began to stutter. 

“I-I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened! I-” 

Yuuri was cut off when Victor lifted his head and kissed him again. This time, unlike the short first kiss, it was deeper and more intimate. Yuuri’s eyes widened but soon closed as he melted into it. What was happening? He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t think much about it. Instead, he thought about the way Victor’s tongue tasted and how it moved so perfectly with his. He moaned in his mouth. Victor grabbed Yuuri’s hips underneath his jacket and Yuuri wrapped his arms around Victor’s neck. Yuuri felt peaceful and calm, something he rarely felt anymore. This was perfect. 

When they finally broke away, Victor pressed his forehead against Yuuri’s. They were breathing deeply and Victor was smiling. Yuuri gave a small smile too, unsure about what to think. 

“You surprised me,” Victor spoke softly. 

Suddenly, everything came rushing back to Yuuri. What was he doing? He couldn’t just kiss someone as famous as Victor Nikiforov! Yuuri pulled away looking towards the ground. He took deep breaths. This couldn’t be happening. 

“Yuuri?” Victor asked. 

“Y-yes?” 

Victor took some time to think as if he were choosing his words carefully. 

“You should go recharge. It’s been a long night.” 

“Right.” 

Yuuri rushed over to his place against the wall and plugged himself in. He heard Victor walk upstairs to his room, probably to change out of his suit or go to sleep. When he heard the door close, Yuuri pressed a hand against his lips and smiled. Maybe he didn’t deserve to be with Victor, but at least he got to enjoy that moment with him. 

___________________

 

The next morning, Yuuri was tending to the machines. Mostly he was just wiping grease off the clockwork dragon and working on Makkachin’s joints, but he also did more “important” tasks now like tightening screws, making sure cogs were in position, and fixing them when they weren’t. Victor was putting more trust in him, and Yuuri could see it. Ever since they kissed, Victor had been much more pleasant. Yuuri jokingly decided that he should kiss him more often. Victor hummed as he worked at his table, but his eyebrows furrowed together more and more in the passing minutes. Soon, his tune stopped and he was looking rather angry. Yuuri briefly wondered if another kiss would make him feel better, but quickly pushed that thought aside and asked him a question instead. 

“Victor?” 

Victor looked up, “Yes?” 

“Is everything all right?” 

“I’m trying to work on this ‘artaifical love,’ but I have no idea where to start. What is love at its core, really? And how can I make it physical? Perhaps you could-” 

Victor’s thought was cut off by a knocking at the door. Yuuri went to open it, but Victor, clearly eager to get away from his project, beat him to it. He opened the door and there stood his mail-bringer: Yurio. As usual, Yurio’s face was twisted into a frown as he handed Victor his mail. He was about to leave, but Victor stopped him. Yurio rolled his eyes. 

“What do you want, old man?” 

“Please come in. I want to give you something. Think of it as payment.” 

“You already pay me-” 

“Sure, but this will be even better!” 

Victor dragged the poor boy in, not taking much care for his limp, and sat him on a worktable. Yuuri had noticed the boy’s crutches and limp before, though he hadn’t paid it much mind. Where he was from, many people had disabilities. Hasetsu, despite being a leader in technology and science, was also a leader in disfigured births and accidents. Many anti-machinists blamed the machinery for births such as these, but Yuuri liked to think of it as a statement of just how far their science had come. Normally, these children would have just died, from either birth difficulties or disappointed parents, but, in Hasetsu, they had a better chance at life. Of course, the accident-related injuries could be chalked up to the machines, but they could still be fixed rather than just thrown aside to die. Everyone in the room was a statement to how you could still live a good life. Victor and his mechanical arm, Yuuri and his clockwork heart, and Yurio, who now sat on the table as Victor asked if he could pull up his pant leg. 

“I suppose?” the confused boy said. 

Victor pulled up his pants to reveal an extremely skinny and weak leg underneath. The boy looked away as Victor examined his leg, causing Yuuri to wonder what he was up to. Victor looked as if he decided something and stood up. 

“Stay here, I’ll be back in a few moments.” 

Victor left Yurio alone with Yuuri as he rummaged through his shop. Yuuri tried to make conversation.

“Where in Hasetsu do you live?” He asked. 

“In the poor district,” Yurio sneered. 

Yuuri smiled and looked towards the ground, “That’s where I used to live. I wonder why I didn’t see you.”

Yurio looked surprised, “I don’t get out much,” he said looking towards his leg. 

Yuuri looked at the boy sadly, making him clearly upset. 

“Don’t feel bad for me. I’m fine.” 

“No, no, that’s not it. I understand.” 

“Understand? How?” 

Yuuri unbuttoned his shirt and showed Yurio his surgery scar and charging port. He got closer so he could see it.

“It’s clockwork. I have to recharge every 23 hours to keep it running. I used to stay inside a lot for fear of collapsing on the street.”

Yurio gently ran his fingers down the scar. He looked back up to Yuuri and smiled. 

“It was kind of Mr. Nikiforov to do that for you.” 

Yuuri smiled, “Well, Mr. Nikiforov is kind. You might not know it at first, but he has a good heart.”

Soon, Victor came back holding machinery parts in his hand. He dumped them on the table next to Yurio. Wiping sweat from his brow, Victor smiled at the boy.

“I’m going to make you a brace for your leg,” he declared. 

“I don’t need-” 

Victor waved his arms, “Sure, you don’t need it, but I want to do it. You don’t have to have it I suppose, but at least let me make it? For practice’s sake?” 

Yurio looked away, then to his leg, before looking back at Victor, “Alright.” 

Victor got to work immediately. He had Yuuri take measurements as he fumbled with some of the machinery. He seemed slightly nervous for this task, though he was clearly excited. Soon, they got right to work creating a brace for Yurio.

 

___________________

 

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Yurio stared at the brace on his leg. 

“Don’t say anything yet, we have to test to see if it actually works.” Victor grabbed both of the boy’s hands and helped him slide off the table. It took many moments and lots of stumbling, including Yuuri reminding Victor that he never learned how to walk in the first place, but, soon enough, he was taking several steps at a time by himself. Yurio’s eyes lit up with each step that he took, and he kept touching the machinery that was know attached to his body. Victor smiled. 

“You’ll have to practice more to get the hang of it, but I believe that you’ll get up to running someday! Don’t forget to clean it, and you can wear it under your clothes if you want to keep it discrete.” 

“I get to keep it?” Yurio asked, shocked.

“Of course. It’s for you! Think of it as a gift. No work needed.” 

Yurio looked down at it one more time, moving his new leg forward and backward. 

“I-I’ve never walked before. Thank you, Mr. Nikiforov!” 

“Just Victor,” Victor smiled. 

Yurio nodded. He grabbed his crutch to help him as he was still learning and headed for the door. Yuuri opened it for him and wished him the best. The boy smiled and did the same before walking back out on to the streets of Hasetsu.closing the door behind him, Yuuri smiled. He turned to Victor, who was trying to clean up everything on the worktable. Walking towards him, Yuuri tried to be subtle, but Victor noticed and asked him if something was wrong. 

“What?” 

“You’re looking strange. I was just wondering if something was wrong.” 

Yuuri gave a small laugh, “Nothing’s wrong, Victor. In fact, everything is perfect.” 

Yuuri grabbed Victor’s mechanical hand and pulled him so he could grab the other. Victor looked surprised but didn’t resist. He seemed curious. 

“What you just did, that was amazing,” Yuuri spoke, looking directly into Victor ice blue eyes. 

“It was nothing,” Victor trailed off. 

“No, Victor, you changed his life! You changed my life! You changed your own life! That’s what’s so amazing about what you do. That’s what’s so amazing about you.” 

“Yuuri, I-” 

Yuuri cut him off with a kiss. It was slow and beautiful, but Yuuri pulled away all too soon. He opened his eyes to see Victor staring back, surprised. 

“I don’t think I deserved that,” Victor spoke. 

“Then I’ll just have to make you believe it.” 

Yuuri kissed him again. This time it was short and followed by many more. He kissed his chin, his forehead, his cheek. He began kissing down his neck. Victor simply stood there, but Yuuri could feel the effect he was having on him. 

Yuuri unbuttoned Victor’s shirt and pushed him down onto the worktable. Victor gave a small gasp that Yuuri silenced with another kiss as he continued to unbutton his shirt. Soon enough, Victor began kissing back as Yuuri pulled off his shirt and vest. He carefully set it aside as to not break his pocket watch and began to kiss his chest. Victor moaned as Yuuri found his nipple. Yuuri stopped and sucked on it for some time, feeling a hard feeling rise up in Victor’s private area. He gave his nipple one last lick before moving on to the other one. It needed Yuuri’s utmost attention as well, after all. He sucked, looking up to Victor’s surprised face. Victor grabbed Yuuri’s chin and pulled up his head. He pressed his head against Yuuri’s and whispered. 

“Is this what you want?” Victor asked. 

“Is this what _you_ want?” Yuuri spoke softly, “I’m just a poor commoner after all.” 

Victor pulled him into a kiss. Yuuri took that as an invitation and climbed up onto the table on top of Victor. He pushed him down so that he was lying on his back. Kissing down his body, Yuuri soon found the top of Victor’s pants. He licked across the top of the band, causing Victor to shiver in excitement. 

“Yuuri-” he moaned. 

Yuuri shushed him and began to unbutton Victor’s pants. Soon, his beautiful hard member came into view. Yuuri licked his lips and looked up at Victor, who was bright pink. 

Without another word, Yuuri took his member in his mouth, and oh how amazing it tasted. He sucked generously, wanting more than he could hardly handle. Victor kept making noises that made him want to suck more. He wanted to please Victor. He needed to. 

“Oh, Yuuri,” Victor spoke softly.

Yuuri took a break to look up at him. 

“Yes, master?” he teased. 

Victor groaned, “Don’t stop, please!” 

Yuuri smiled, “Of course. Your wish is my command.” 

Yuuri went back to sucking on Victor. He didn’t stop, even when Victor’s moaning got louder and a shot of warm liquid came from the tip of his cock. Yuuri swallowed it and kept on sucking, not wanting to stop. He licked from the base to the tip and gave it a soft kiss before climbing up to lie next to Victor. He was breathing deeply, but he still looked at Yuuri with stars in his eyes. The two held each other in a tight embrace. Yuuri began to drift off to sleep in Victor’s arms when he heard his voice. 

“Someday,” he said, “I’ll have to return the favor, but not tonight. Sleep, dear Yuuri.” 

With that, Yuuri went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry, I'm not that great at sexy writing XD It'll be better someday. I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	7. The Clocktower

When Victor woke up the next morning, he still had the sleeping Yuuri in his arms. Victor looked down and suddenly remembered the night before. He sat up, trying his best not to disturb the beautiful man next to him. Yuuri gave a cough in his sleep, and Victor realized that he should have made Yuuri plug in last night before falling asleep. He carefully picked up his sleeping form and carried him over to the cot that he slept on. Victor slowly unbuttoned his shirt and plugged him into the charging machine. There. Now everything was alright. 

Victor thought back on their night. He smiled. Surely, nothing in the world could be better than that. He could only wait to return the favor someday. Victor, who was still half dressed, decided to go upstairs and change into new clothes for the day. They had to go food shopping that morning, so he got into his town clothes and began to make coffee. Yuuri only liked his coffee with sugar, whereas Victor liked it black, so Victor made a large cup before pouring into two smaller ones. He put the sugar in Yuuri’s cup and began downstairs to gift Yuuri his drink. Yuuri was normally the one to make coffee in the morning, so Victor hoped he had put in enough sugar for him. 

Yuuri, who was still sleeping, shifted on the cot. Victor couldn’t help but smile. He sat down Yuuri’s cup on the shelf next to his cot and took his own over to the light-sensitive street lamp he was working on. He found it difficult to work on his invention without Yuuri nearby to help, but he didn’t want to wake him now. After being such an angel the night before, he deserved some rest. Victor wobbled on his ladder as he worked, trying his best to stay quiet. Not that it would matter much in the loud lab. As he worked, Victor thought on the artificial love that he was supposed to create for the king. Maybe this was more of a chemist’s job. While Victor would consider himself a fairly good chemist, there were certainly better ones than him. Like Phichit Chulanont from the Siam district. Surely he could help. Victor made a mental note to talk to him later. 

Victor heard a sound coming from Yuuri’s direction and turned to see the beautiful man sitting up. He looked down at his chest and then back at Victor with a clear blush on his face. Victor almost laughed. After how confident Yuuri had been last night, it was almost comical to see him so bashful now. He pointed to the coffee next to his bed. 

“Drink up! We forgot to plug you in last night, so I went ahead and did it. It hasn’t been an hour yet, so you can just relax if you like. I’ve got this.” 

Yuuri didn’t say anything but nodded to Victor and grabbed his coffee. Victor watched eagerly to see his reaction to the drink and gave a breath of relief when he seemed to like it. 

“We are still going into town for food today, so make sure you wear something appropriate for that,” Victor spoke to him before turning back to his work. He remembered something else he needed to say and turned back. 

“Also remember to-” Victor nearly fell off his ladder. There, standing in all his glory, was a shirtless Yuuri. After struggling with staying on his ladder for a few seconds, Victor looked back at the man before him. Both men blushed. 

“Sorry,” Yuuri started, “I just thought that now-” 

“No! No, please, continue! Don’t mind me,” Victor turned back to his invention, trying hard not to turn and look at the changing man in the same room as him. And oh how he wanted to look. Soon Yuuri was dressed again, with the exception of his shirt which he left unbuttoned for the charging port, and he turned to Victor. Even the tiny bit of skin he was showing was enough for Victor to want to see more. He restrained himself and resumed talking. 

“As I was going to say, remember to grab the baskets before we leave.” 

“Right.” 

After waiting for Yuuri’s heart to recharge, the two men set out onto the streets of Hasetsu to get food for the week ahead. They talked merrily and freely as they walked. It was nice, Victor thought, to see Yuuri so comfortable with him. After what happened the night before, he wasn’t sure if the shy man would still be open with him. On the contrary, Yuuri seemed even more comfortable. Soon enough, they were in the streets of Hasetsu’s main square. Shops of all kinds lined the area, and a large clocktower stood on one corner. The clocktower, appropriately dubbed The Machinery Beacon of Hasetsu, was a staple of the city and was even more recognizable than the castle. Victor turned to Yuuri. 

“Alright, I’ll get the dry goods, you get the perishables. We will meet by the fountain in the center of the square when we are done. Sound good?” 

Yuuri nodded and handed Victor a basket to go about his business. They hurried to get their food. As it was a weekday, not too many people were in the streets, but Hasetsu was a big city. There were still lots of customers around the area. Victor got the essentials and began to head to the next shop. As he was right next to the clocktower, he was shielded from the bright sun in the sky. He glanced catercorner to him and saw Yuuri at a shop near the tower as well. Victor smiled, not paying attention to the people around him. He only snapped out of his staring when he heard a voice shouting from the center of the square. 

The fountain, which had been donated by Victor himself, had been frozen over. People stood on top of the ice and held hands around it, facing in all directions. A leader, who was closest to the clocktower, shouted to the crowd. 

“The time of machinery has come to an end!” he yelled, “This will mark the beginning of a new, magic-powered era! The beasts of old will return, and we will rule the world in a natural way. Heed our words, and remember this day. Dear citizens of Hasetsu, prepare for the new era!” 

At his final words, an explosion came from above Victor. The clocktower. He turned to see the broken pieces of the structure falling towards him and the people around him. Victor covered his head with his hands, but he knew it would be no use. This was his end. 

_But Yuuri-_ he thought. 

He waited for the impact to come, but it never did. Finally, Victor peaked out from under his arms and looked towards the sky. The pieces of the tower were floating in midair. What? How could this be happening? 

Victor didn’t dwell on it too long and took the opportunity to run away from the wreckage. He glanced towards Yuuri and everything made sense. Yuuri was holding the pieces of the tower in the air with his magic. As soon as everyone had run away, Yuuri moved out of the way himself and let the pieces fall. Victor ran over to him. Yuuri was breathing deeply hunched over, and Victor could only hope that his mechanical heart could take it. When Victor reached him, he held onto Yuuri. 

“Yuuri? Are you alright?” 

“I… I will be.” 

Victor looked up as people approached them. It was the magical extremists. They looked at Yuuri. One of them smiled. 

“You’re strong,” he commented. 

Victor sneered, “Get out of here!” 

“We want to make you an offer,” they said, completely ignoring Victor, “Join us. We will give you the life you’ve always wanted.” 

“...Never!” Yuuri breathed heavily.

The man frowned, “Then you will die.” 

The group approached the duo, and Victor quickly drew his gun. He pointed it at them, and some backed away, but others still advanced. Victor fired, hitting one and scaring the others enough to turn into birds and fly away. Only the leader remained. Victor pointed his gun at him. 

“Our offer is still open,” he spoke before turning into a bird himself and flying away. Victor fired at him, but he was too quick. Soon, save for the dead one on the ground, all of the extremists were gone. Victor didn’t have enough time to worry about them. 

He sat Yuuri on the ground and began to check him over. As a doctor, he didn’t trust the others around him who were offering to help. He needed to save Yuuri himself, just as Yuuri had done for him. Yuuri insisted that he was fine, however, and was soon standing on his own accord despite Victor’s protests. He had no idea how magical exhaustion worked. Was it similar to physical exhaustion? Was it something else entirely? Victor wasn’t sure. What he did know was that they needed to get home as soon as possible and away from the crowds. With the police approaching, that didn’t seem like it would be anytime soon. 

 

_________________

 

It took several hours and a lot of convincing before Yuuri and Victor could go home. The police wanted to thank Yuuri, though he declined many times. He said it was for his own safety, though Victor knew it was more for his own safety than Yuuri’s.

The police, after many hours of questioning, finally let them go home. They had to sneak out of the back of the police station as there were reporters wanting answers in the front. Soon enough, however, they were back in their lab and settling back down. Victor insisted that Yuuri sit and charge up a little extra, and Yuuri was too tired to disagree. Yuuri sat down on his cot and plugged in. As he did so, Victor put down their baskets and got Yuuri some water. When he brought it back, Yuuri hardly even noticed him. He was too deep in thought. Victor waved a hand in front of his face and go this attention. 

“What were you thinking?” 

“Just about what could have happened today if I hadn’t been there. Lots of people would have died. You would have died.”

“Yuuri you don’t know that-” 

“It doesn’t matter. It still could have happened. What if I hadn’t reacted fast enough? What if I couldn’t hold all of that material? So many things could have happened-” 

“But they didn’t, you saved everyone.” 

Tears rolled down Yuuri’s face, but he said nothing. 

Victor stayed by his side and held him. He stayed there for what felt like hours, but he didn’t care. He needed to be with Yuuri. Eventually, Yuuri gently pushed him off and stood. He went towards the bathroom and went inside. Victor took a deep breath and retreated back into his head. There had been something nagging at him ever since the accident, and he needed to address it. He hated even thinking about it, but he knew he had to ask. 

When Yuuri left the bathroom, Victor stood. He brushed his hair back and looked Yuuri in the eyes. 

“Yuuri?” he asked. 

“Yes?” 

“Did… did you say no to the magicians because you knew you would die if you said yes? Without the charging machine?” 

“What?” 

“You know. You couldn’t have accepted their offer. You’d die. Surely you thought of that.” 

Yuuri frowned, “I said no because I want to stay here, Victor. Besides, what they are doing isn’t magic. It’s terrorism. It’s awful. They tried to kill lots of people today.” 

Victor looked towards the ground, “Right.” 

Yuuri walked up to him, grabbed his chin, and spoke softly.

“I would never leave you,” he said. 

Victor smiled lightly, looking into Yuuri’s eyes. Yuuri pulled him into a kiss. All too soon, it was over, and Yuuri went back to his chores. Victor couldn’t get over the nagging feeling in his stomach. He had forced Yuuri into servitude, after all, shouldn’t Yuuri despise him? Yuuri said he was fine, but Victor couldn’t help the nagging feeling that he wasn’t. He took a deep breath and went back to his work. That always helped him keep his mind off things. 

And yet, hard as he try, Victor couldn’t quite stop thinking about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaaaa another chapter in like ONE day? What's wrong with Anya?!? That's a good question. I'm not sure XD 
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	8. A New Friend

Yuuri was used to sleeping with many sounds in the lab. The buzzing of the charging machine, the fire of the furnace, and the turning of cogs never stopped all night long. Yuuri just got used to it. What he wasn’t used to, however, was the sound of human cries. 

Yuuri awoke with a start. Who was wailing? What was wrong? He glanced around the room and saw Victor lying in the corner (as he did every now and then) sleeping. He was bundled up in blankets that Yuuri had wrapped him in when he decided to sleep there, but he was clutching them tightly. His cries seemed dire and frightening. Yuuri unplugged from the machine and quickly went over to wake him. 

“Victor!” he whispered kindly while shaking him, “Victor!” 

Victor awoke with a jump. He nearly hit the shelf above him and seemed scared about something. He frantically looked around until his eyes met Yuuri’s. Victor pulled Yuuri into a tight hug. Yuuri was surprised, but he hugged back. 

“Victor? What’s wrong?” Yuuri asked

“I… I had a nightmare,” Victor whispered. 

“I assumed that. What was it about?” 

Victor looked up at Yuuri, tears gleaming in his eyes, “I dreamt that your heart went out and I was unable to save you.” 

Yuuri sat back. Was that really what Victor had been crying about? He placed a hand on Victor’s shoulder. 

“It’s alright. I’m here. My heart is fine.” 

Victor scrambled out from underneath the shelf and passed Yuuri. In the dark lab, he hit a few tables, but soon found where he was going. Yuuri followed as he pulled something out from underneath the table he was at. He set it on top and turned to Yuuri. 

“This is a heart. For you. I’ve been working on it for a while now, but I think it’ll be done soon. This heart doesn’t need to be recharged. So you… So you can leave.” 

“Leave?” 

“You won’t be trapped here anymore. You can go live your life how you want it.”

Yuuri frowned, “Really, Victor?” 

“What? Aren’t you happy about this?” 

“Of course I’m happy that I don’t need to recharge, but that’s not the point! I don’t want to leave this! I don’t want to leave you! Don’t you get it? I-I think I love you!” 

Victor’s eyes widened. 

“Alright maybe our meeting could have been better, and maybe you made a mistake when you forced me to stay here, but you gave me a new life! A new hope! And I’ll never be able to repay you for how amazing it has been.” 

The tears in Victor’s eyes were pouring even more freely now, and Yuuri could feel his own starting to form. The duo looked at each other in the dark, each one afraid of what the other might say. 

“I think I love you too, Yuuri. That’s why I want you to live the life you want.” 

“I want this life. With you.” 

Victor sobbed and grabbed Yuuri. Together, they cried in the dark lab holding one another.

 

________________

 

“Ugh, I just can’t seem to get it!” Victor scowled in the morning light shining in from the dusty lab windows. 

“What’s wrong?” Yuuri asked. 

“This ‘artifical love’ thing. It’s impossible! I thought maybe brushing up on my chemistry would help, but there’s nothing! I don’t get it… Surely, there has to be a way!” 

Yuuri hesitated but eventually sighed. 

“There is a way.” 

Victor looked up. 

“Us mages can conjure love potions. We don’t do it often because they are dangerous and manipulative and false. Real love is something of a magic itself, so fake love goes against our principles.” 

“Yuuri, why didn’t you tell me this before?” 

“Because it’s dangerous!” 

“What’s dangerous about love?” 

“Everything.” 

Yuuri could see Victor thinking about it for a moment, but he didn’t comment further. He simply looked down at the machine he was working on and sighed. 

“I suppose you are right. Perhaps I’ll just have to have you kiss me again to give me inspiration.” 

Yuuri smiled, “I have a better idea.” 

“What could be better than-” 

“Victor!” 

“Alright, alright. What is it?” 

Yuuri went over to his workstation and grabbed what he had been working on for some time now. He had gotten stuck making it, so he figured now was as good as any time to show Victor. He placed the small machine onto the worktable Victor sat at and waited for his reaction. 

“Is… is that Makkachin?” 

“No, he’s smaller! I thought that Makkachin might need a friend, so I started copying Makka’s workings on a smaller scale. It isn’t my own invention, but I thought it would be a nice start,” Yuuri smiled nervously. 

“That’s great, Yuuri!” Victor smiled, “Learning is done by copying, after all. What do you need help with?” 

“I’ve gotten stuck on the cog placement. I don’t suppose you could help me?” 

Victor smiled, “I’d be more than happy to.” 

The two continued to work tirelessly on their creation for the rest of the morning and even into the afternoon. It was fun, being just with Victor and creating something that might not be useful but still enjoyable. 

“Victor?” Yuuri asked as they worked. 

“Yes?” 

“I’ve been avoiding asking this, mostly for my own safety, but also for your comfort. I now feel like we are close enough that I can ask this, but if you don’t want to talk about it then I understand. Just please don’t get angry.” 

Victor looked confused, “What could possibly make me angry?” 

“Why do you have a metal arm?” Yuuri finally asked. 

There were several moments of silence before Victor spoke, “You were wrong, Yuuri, about whether or not we were close enough. In fact, we are way past the point that I should have told you.” 

“Victor don’t feel like-” 

“No. I want to tell you. You’re the only person I’ve ever wanted to know this.” 

Yuuri smiled at Victor with love in his eyes, “Well, go on then.” 

Victor coughed, “You might not like it.” 

Yuuri was confused but didn’t say anything. He let Victor tell his tale. 

“As you know, I was once a doctor. Not just any doctor: a great doctor. I was on the verge of curing more disabilities and injuries than any other doctor in known history. It was my passion. One day, a small child was placed before me. He had been in an accident, and his arm was severely injured. He was crying, as you would expect, but not because of the pain. He was afraid of surgery. I told him that, no matter what, I would be able to save his arm. I told him that I would take care of him. I bet my own arm on it. Soon, he calmed down and went into surgery happy. He never came out. 

“I don’t know what happened. Everything was going fine, just as an arm surgery should, but things went south quickly. He began to bleed so heavily that we couldn’t save him. He was too young and too weak. He died. I lied to him. I had never had a patient die on me in such an easy procedure, so I cut my own arm off to fulfill my promise to him. And also to punish myself. He shouldn’t have died. If only I had been better… If only.” 

“Victor-” 

“No, I’m not done. I replaced it with a machine to remind myself to never operate on a human again. Only machines. At least with machines, you don’t have to worry about it not working. If it doesn’t work, you simply fix it or make something new. But then you came along and so desperately needed help. Your sister taunted me for being cruel, but I was actually trying to save myself. I realized that you were going to die if I didn’t do anything, so I might as well try. That was the first time since then that I’ve worked on a person. I’m not sure if I could do it on anyone else.” 

“Victor, that’s horrible-” 

“Isn’t it? That’s why I don’t tell anyone. I suppose you probably think I’m insane.” 

“I don’t think you’re insane. You were in a bad place. We do strange things when we are depressed, but you must’ve been in a lot of pain to cut your own arm off.” 

“I promised him-” 

“Still. Victor, I’m so sorry that happened to you.” 

Victor looked down, “I did it to myself.” 

“No! Your mind was sick. It’s different.” 

“How do you know I’m not just as twisted as your sister and all the other mages think? What kind of maniac cuts off their own arm?” 

Yuuri brushed Victor’s hair aside and looked him in the eyes, “I know you’re human. You cry, you feel, you have empathy. So much empathy. So much so that you kept a passing promise to a young boy who you owed nothing. Victor. What you did was questionable, but you’re better now. At least I hope you’re better now. And we can keep working to make you better. How does that sound?” 

Victor cried, “That sounds amazing. And, Yuuri?” 

“Yes?” 

“We’ll keep working to make you better too, alright?” 

Yuuri smiled, “I would like that very much.” 

 

________________

 

By the time the sun was setting, Yuuri and Victor had finally finished on their small dog. Yuuri had turned on Makkachin who seemed to be waiting patiently for her new friend. Soon enough, the small creature woke up with a bark. 

“Ah!” Yuuri cried, “He’s so cute!” 

Victor laughed, “It is a he?” 

“Yes! And his name is Victor.” 

“What?” 

“After you! We can call him Vicchan though, to avoid confusion.” 

Victor smiled and grabbed the small dog from Yuuri’s hands. 

“Hello, Vicchan!” 

The small dog automaton yipped in excitement. He struggled from Victor’s hands, forcing Victor to very carefully hold on and set him down on the ground. Once his paws reached the floor he took off with Makkachin hot on his heels. He explored the lab, sniffing here and there (even if he couldn’t actually smell) and getting into different crevices. Once he noticed Makkachin behind him, he turned and yipped some more. 

Makkachin barked back and the two started playing with one another. Yuuri beamed as the two danced around the lab, Makka seeming happier then she had been in a long time. Yuuri turned to Victor. 

“Now Makka has a friend!” he beamed. 

Victor smiled, “Everyone needs someone.” 

The two looked into each other’s eyes for some time. They both leaned in and met in the middle in a kiss. When they pulled away, they noticed the two dogs staring at them in confusion. Yuuri giggled. 

“What are you two doing? Go play!” 

That got the dogs excited, they darted off, knocking over a small table in the process. Laughing, Yuuri set it back up and turned to Victor. 

“We should take them on a walk sometime.” 

“That would be a show. Two clockwork dogs roaming the streets of Hasetsu.” 

“Well, it’s nice to think about. Maybe, someday, everyone will have dog automatons.” 

“Then where will the real dogs go?” 

Yuuri thought about it, “I suppose that real dogs deserve homes more than fake dogs. Maybe they won’t become popular. Either way, I’m glad we have them.” 

Victor smiled at Yuuri, and Yuuri wanted to keep that image solidified in his head for a long time. 

A knock on the door roused him from his dreaming. Victor quickly caught Makka and turned her off, then did the same with small Vicchan. Yuuri headed over to the door to answer. When he opened it, a rush of cold air came in. He shivered. Standing in the doorway was Yurio without his crutch. Yuuri beamed. 

“Yurio! You’re walking!” 

The boy didn’t say anything, only shoved a piece of paper into Yuuri’s hands and hustled away. Yuuri was confused. 

“Goodbye?” 

He closed the door and walked over to Victor, who was wiping grease off himself. 

“Yurio stopped by with a note.” 

“And he didn’t come in? What a rude boy!” Victor teased. 

Yuuri read the scribbled note in his hand. His blood ran cold. 

“What is it?” Victor grabbed the note. His face paled. 

_Come to the north warehouse in the Angles district. Bring Yuuri, or the delivery boy gets it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3 
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	9. Chapter 9

_” Dr. Nikiforov?”_

_Victor turned and faced the voice that said his name. He saw a nurse rushing towards him._

_“Yes?”_

_“There’s a young boy with an arm injury who is about to go into surgery.”_

_“Yes. I have him on my schedule,” Victor said while sifting through his papers._

_“Right, but he is afraid of the surgery. He’s crying in the other room. I thought maybe you could help calm him down by explaining the procedures and-”_

_“Where is he?”_

_“Right over here.”_

_The nurse led Victor to the waiting room where a boy with a disfigured arm sat crying. Victor crouched down next to him and gave a smile._

_“Hello, there, what’s your name?”_

_The boy choked back his sobs, “H-henry.”_

_“Well, Henry, I’m Dr. Nikiforov. What seems to be the issue.”_

_“I don’t want to go into surgery.”_

_Victor was surprised. He figured that the boy would be more upset about his arm injury than the surgery, but he hardly seemed phased by it. He only seemed concerned about surgery. Victor smiled at him._

_“What about it scares you?”_

_“I don’t want to lose my arm.”_

_Victor looked down at the boy’s arm and examined it. He sighed._

_“I can’t promise that your arm will be totally fine when we are done, but I can promise you this: you will be fine. You’ll get through this surgery. It’ll be easy in and easy out. Just a few readjustments here and there and poof! All better.”_

_“And what if I don’t.”_

_Victor smiled, “You will, I promise. I’d bet my own arm on it.”_

_The boy had stopped crying by this point. He gave a brave smile, “You’ll be doing the surgery, right Dr. Nikiforov?”_

_“Of course. I’ll be there every step of the way.”_

_Taking a deep breath, the boy nodded, “Alright.”_

_“Good. We will begin shortly.”_

_Soon, the surgery began. Victor worked quickly yet steadily on the boy’s arm, making sure to take extra care in his craft. Everything was going well until he realized that the injury was far worse than he expected. Try as he might, he couldn’t save the boy’s arm. He turned to his assistant._

_“We will need to amputate.”_

_Tirelessly though they may have worked, unfortunately, the surgery ended in disaster. Henry died from his wounds, and Victor was horrified. This was supposed to be an easy surgery. He had amputated plenty of times, after all, but the boy’s body just couldn’t take the strain._

_Victor walked out to where the boy’s family was waiting. They stood up when they saw him._

_“Well,” asked the mother, “where's Henry?”_

_“I-I’m sorry to inform you, but Henry didn’t make it.”_

_The parents took a moment to be in shock before the crying started. The mother wailed into her husband’s coat, and he didn’t fare too well either. Victor looked at the floor, not being able to bring himself to look in their eyes. Once the mother finally brought her head up, she cried._

_“You promised him he would be alright! You said it would be easy!”_

_“The injuries were far worse than we expected-”_

_“You promised!”_

_Victor didn’t know what to say. He simply looked at the mother and felt his own tears begin to fall._

_“I’m sorry.”_

_With that, he left. He ran out of the waiting room and into the operating area. His head filled with the trauma of his failure, pooling and gathering in menacing puddles of dread. He screamed. His piercing cries filled the room with sorrow as he reached for the operating tools. He knew what he had to do. He promised… he promised._

Victor and Yuuri hurried down the streets of Hasetsu. They hardly talked as they breathed heavily from trying to get there as soon as possible. Right after receiving the note, the duo launched into action. They couldn’t let Yurio be killed. As soon as they could they were on the streets walking as fast as possible without arousing suspicion. Yuuri turned and looked at Victor whose face was full of concern. He whispered to himself. 

“I should have never let him get close. It put him in danger. It’s all my fault-” 

“Stop it, Victor. You did the right thing.” 

Victor didn’t say anything, but he looked up when they saw the warehouse in the distance. 

“That’s the one.” 

The Angles district was a strange part of Hasetsu. It was near the sea, so many trading ships came in and out around the area. That resulted in lots of storage and workhouses being around there too. When Yuuri and Victor walked up to the warehouse, Victor took in a deep breath and sighed. 

“Yuuri, this isn’t good. Promise me that if I tell you to leave, you’ll leave, alright?” 

“But Victor-” 

“Promise me. Please.” 

Yuuri hesitated, but eventually gave in, “Alright.” 

Victor opened the door to the warehouse and led them inside. It was old and dark and musty, so Victor wasn’t quite sure they were in the right place. But, when they entered the main area, he was proved wrong. The lights flickered on and there stood the terrorist magicians, all looking smug and powerful in the lighting. Victor grimaced. 

“What do you want from us?” Victor yelled across the room. 

The lead magician smiled, “We want you to join us, machinist. Join us in creating a world where anything is possible. That is what you want, right?” 

“Never!” 

“Well then, I suppose we will just have to get rid of your delivery boy. We have him down by the docks. Drowning seems like a good, slow, cold, painful death, don’t you think?” 

“Wait!” Victor stopped them, “What is it that you want from me.” 

“We want your knowledge. We need to be able to shut down the city, and you know how.” 

“And, if I tell you, you’ll let us go?” 

The man turned his gaze to Yuuri, “We want him too.” 

“Not going to happen.” 

“Yuuri, don’t you want to live in a world where your magic is revered instead of punished? Don’t you want the creatures of old to roam the earth once again? Join us, and we will show you the possibilities.” 

Yuuri shook his head, “No! You’re terrorists. You kill and misuse magic. You aren’t even true magicians!” 

The man frowned. He gestured for the terrorist magicians to go towards them. In his shock, Victor turned to Yuuri. 

“Yuuri, go! Save Yurio!” 

Yuuri promptly turned into a bird and flew out the open window near the top of the building. A few magicians tried to follow him, but it was clear that Yuuri had a good head start. On top of that, Yuuri was stronger than all of them. If they tried anything, Victor was sure Yuuri could take care of it on his own. Victor turned back to the terrorist leader. 

“Now it’s just us. Let’s talk.” 

“We still have your delivery boy.” 

“You won’t for long.” 

The man grimaced at Victor, “Fine. We will let you go if you tell us how to shut down the city.” 

“And then you’ll leave us alone?” 

“Only if you swear to not meddle with our plans.” 

“I can’t promise that.” 

The man laughed, “Whatever. Once we’ve shut down the city, there will be no stopping us. Not even the great Victor Nikiforov will be able to do anything.” 

“Do we have a deal?” Victor asked impatiently. 

“We have a deal. Now tell us.” 

“There’s a main cog underneath the fountain in the underground tunnels. Destroy it, and the entire city will stop working, but you can only do it at a certain time of day. Midday tomorrow there will be no workers down there. If there are any, it will be very few. That would be the time to strike.” 

“Thank you, Victor. This information will be your doom.” 

“We will see about that.” 

“If you’re lying to us, we will find you, and we will kill you and everyone you love. Do you understand?” 

“I don’t lie.” 

“Good. Leave here immediately.” 

Victor walked backward until he couldn’t see the magicians anymore and bolted out the door. His sprinted out into the cold outdoors and nearly slipped on some ice. Running away, he took great precaution in getting back to the lab. Taking back streets and unknown turns ensured that he wasn’t being followed. One could never be too careful when dealing with terrorists. 

Once Victor finally had the lab in sight, he sighed. The lights were on. Surely that meant that Yurio and Yuuri made it back safely. Surely… 

The cold wind blew through Victor’s hair as he climbed the steps to the lab. He threw open the door, hand ready to grab his gun if things went south. When he looked, however, all he saw were three shivering bodies near the furnace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this chapter shorter than normal? Yes. Am I sorry? Yes. Will the next chapter be up quicker to make up for it? Yes! Thanks so much for reading! 
> 
> If you like fantasy, you might like my new WIP "The Racer's Tribe!" It's gotten a lot of good feedback, so you should give it a shot! Thanks! <3
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	10. Chapter 10

Even though Yuuri promised to leave the warehouse when Victor told him to, he still didn’t think it would actually come to that. So, when Victor actually said the words, Yuuri hesitated before flying away. But he knew he had to go, so he flew. He flew out through the windows at the top of the warehouse and out into the cold air of Hasetsu. He left Victor there all alone, but he knew he would be fine. He had to be. He just did. 

Yuuri flew through the air towards the docks. He looked around frantically for signs of Yuri in the dark and saw him near the edge. They held him waist deep in the water and held their hands at his head, ready to attack if needed. Yuri himself just looked mad. Yuuri dived down and hit the man holding him in the face before transforming back into a human. The man laid on the ground as the other man ran up to attack him. Yuuri hit him with a beam of light and kicked the other man in the head, knocking him out. In his rush, the man had dropped Yuri into the water, so Yuuri needed to act fast. Clearly, the boy couldn’t swim and his heavy leg brace certainly didn’t help. 

Yuuri looked up into the night sky and shot fire at incoming birds. They had chased him from the warehouse but soon fell from the sky with burning wings. Yuuri drove into the water and grabbed around aimlessly in the dark. Soon he grabbed onto Yuri’s arm and pulled him above the water. The boy flailed around in the water, trying to take Yuuri down with him. Yuuri turned him around and grabbed him from behind so that he couldn’t push him. He looked around, trying to find an exit point from the water. He saw a ladder a few feet away. 

“Yuri!” He called, “It’s alright! Calm down!” 

It took several moments, but the boy eventually calmed down enough to be led over to the ladder. He grabbed onto it like it was his lifeline. Yuuri swam next to him while he took in deep breaths, carefully examining the night to make sure no one was going to come after them. 

“Yuri,” Yuuri spoke, “I need you to climb up the ladder and onto the dock. I’ll be right behind you.” 

“A-alright,” Yuri spoke, shivering from the cold. 

The boy climbed the ladder with some difficulty. Yuuri suspected that he hadn’t climbed a ladder before because of his leg. Eventually, however, he made it up and Yuuri pulled himself behind him. The cold hit him hard. Yuuri shivered and grabbed Yuri, pulling him in close. 

“We need to get back to the lab,” Yuuri said, “You’re freezing.” 

“You are too.” 

The duo huddled together, and Yuuri quickly grabbed the fallen men’s coats to wrap around their bodies. They walked together through the streets of the town, leaving the Angles district and entering the poor district. Yuri stopped walking. 

“We need to keep moving,” Yuuri said. 

“I have a friend who lives here. We need to make sure they don’t get him.” 

“We don’t have time-” 

“I was just held in the freezing water for you guys. The least you can do is help me save my friend. What if they get him too?” 

Yuuri mulled it over but eventually gave in, “Fine, but we need warm clothing first.” 

Yurio led them to what appeared to be his house in the poor district. He walked right in. It was still cold, but at least it sheltered them from the wind. Yurio quickly changed his clothing and handed Yuuri some too. It was the last of his items, Yuuri noted, and decided that he would buy him some more clothing later. He needed it. 

“He lives right down the road,” Yuri said before leading them out back into the cold weather. Whoever this was, Yuri seemed to care about them a lot. Enough to go back out into the cold while still somewhat wet. Yuuri followed reluctantly. The sooner they could get back to the warm lab, the better. 

They walked down the road and Yuri gave a very specific knock on someone’s door. A poor man with black hair stepped out. 

“Yuri?” he asked. 

“You need to come with us. We don’t have time to explain. Trust me,” Yuri said quickly. The man looked at their shivering bodies and sighed. 

“Alright.” 

The trio quickly walked through the city, being careful to avoid main streets. When they finally arrived at the lab, Yuuri fumbled with the key before opening the door. The inside felt hot, but Yuuri forced himself in. The other two followed. They ran to the furnace and leaned against the warmness, the strange man coming in next to them. Yuri leaned against him too, as if struggling for warmth. They all took deep breaths of relief and laid there together. 

Suddenly, the door opened. Yuuri was quick to look up and prepare to fight, only to see Victor standing there. 

“Victor!” Yuuri shouted before running to him and pulling him into a hug. Victor responded with a hug of his own, still seeming skitterish from the encounter. When Yuuri pulled away, he looked Victor in the eyes. 

“How did you get away?” he asked. 

“I made a deal. We will need to move fast. You’re wet,” he also noted. 

Yuuri walked Victor back over to the furnace and Victor raised an eyebrow. 

“Who’s this?” he asked, gesturing to the black-haired man. 

“I’m Otabek,” he spoke, “I presume you are Victor Nikiforov, Yura’s employer.” 

“Yuri, you weren’t supposed to tell anyone that!” 

“We can trust him. I promise.” 

“What is happening?” Otabek spoke, “Why are you all wet? Why am I here?” 

Yuri sighed, “Some people are after us. I didn’t want them to get you too.” 

“I’m so sorry for dragging you into this, Yuri,” Victor spoke, laying his head in his hands. 

“Occupational hazard I suppose,” the young boy chuckled. 

Victor went on to explain what happened with the magicians. Yuuri was concerned, but he knew Victor would have a plan. 

“I told them that they could only turn the city off at a certain time of day tomorrow. The idiots believed me. We have until then to act.” 

“Victor, what are we going to do?” Yuuri said, “If they shut off the city, they can do whatever they want.” 

“I know. I have a plan.” 

“Oh, do you?” Yuri asked, “Does it involve the police because I think we are in a little bit above our heads.” 

“It does, but we are the only ones right now who can truly stop them.” 

Victor went on to explain his plan to the group. They all nodded in understanding. 

“Are you sure this will work?” Otabek asked, “It seems risky.” 

“It is risky, but what else are we going to do?” 

“I don’t know how I feel about Yurio and Otabek going off on their own,” Yuuri thought aloud, “What if they get hurt?” 

“I used to be a knight in the royal guard,” Otabek said, “I will protect him.” 

“And I can throw knives. He taught me.” 

“Why aren’t you a knight anymore?” 

Otabek cringed, “I got caught stealing. Old habits die hard.” 

“That doesn’t matter. What we need now is for everyone to get some sleep. We start at dawn tomorrow.” 

The group nodded in agreement. 

“Yurio, you and Otabek can stay in the lab. Yuuri, you can stay with me upstairs. If you need anything, please feel free to ask.” 

They all split into their prospective groups, ready to get their sleep before the big day tomorrow. Yuuri followed Victor upstairs into his bedroom. For having lived with Victor as long as he did, Yuuri hadn’t actually seen Victor’s bedroom yet. It was small and dirty, just like the lab, but it seemed very much like what Yuuri would picture the inside of Victor’s mind to look like. Cluttered but with a sort of rhythm. Yuuri looked around. 

“I suppose we should get to sleep,” he said. 

“Yes, we should.” 

The two laid down together on Victor’s bed, each scared to move and rouse the other. It wouldn’t have mattered though, because neither man could sleep. Yuuri eventually whispered into the dark. 

“Victor?” he asked. 

“Yes?” 

“Are you alright?” 

“Not really.” 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I’m so nervous about tomorrow. I can’t imagine what will happen if everything goes wrong. We need to infiltrate one of their bases, but what about after that? What if we don’t get any information?” 

“It will all work out,” Yuuri said, hearing the disbelief in his own voice.

“I hope so,” Victor rolled over and met Yuuri’s eyes, “I couldn’t bear to lose you.” 

“Victor-” 

“No, listen. Yuuri, you are so special to me. I-I love you. I said it. I love you. You make every day worth living. I thought that my work was my purpose, but now I can’t help but think maybe you are. Maybe I was put on this earth to love you forever, and I am okay with that.” 

“Victor, I love you too. You’re so special and amazing. I don’t know what I would do without you.” 

They sat in silence, just thinking about each other’s words. 

“I know something that will calm you down,” Yuuri said out of the blue. 

“Do you?” Victor asked.

Yuuri rolled over so he was lying on top of Victor, his head between his supporting hands. He leaned down and kissed him deeply, his lips melding perfectly with Victor’s. They stayed that way for a while. Kissing, thinking, loving. Yuuri was happy to just lay there and take in the beautiful man beneath him, but they also had other plans. 

Victor rolled the two over so that he was on top. He brushed the hair out of Yuuri’s face and smiled. 

 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. 

Yuuri smiled back at him and pulled him down for a hug. The two laughed and Victor sat up, quickly removing his shirt. Yuuri still laid beneath him, just taking in the view. His abs showed in the moonlight from the window next to them and Yuuri’s breathing hitched. 

“I think you’re the beautiful one,” Yuuri said in awe. 

Victor laughed, “Why can’t we both be beautiful?” 

“I suppose that would be alright.” Yuuri waited for Victor to fall back down to kiss him again. He ran his hands up his chest and lightly brushed over his nipples. Victor smiled against his lips. He began kissing down the side of Yuuri’s neck, leaving Yuuri tingling wherever he left his lips. When he got to his shoulder, Victor began to suck on a specific spot. Yuuri couldn’t help but moan at the feeling. It wasn’t that Yuuri wanted Victor. Oh no. It was something much more than that. He needed Victor. He needed him to satisfy him in a way that only he could do. Yuuri moaned Victor’s name to get him moving along to the more exciting stuff. When Victor didn’t comply right away, Yuuri flipped them over so that he was on top of him. Victor laughed. 

“You’re always surprising me.” 

Yuuri took off his own shirt, making sure to do so in the most graceful way he could. Once it was off, he reached down towards Victor’s pants and undid the button. He reached down and grabbed Victor’s member, which was hardening by the second. Yuuri slipped it out of its constraints and watched as it revealed itself in the moonlit room. He sighed. Surely, there was nothing more beautiful than that. 

“Victor,” Yuuri said, “I want you inside me.” 

“I would love nothing more.” 

Yuuri stood up and began pulling off his own pants. Victor watched from the bed, completely entranced. Once they were off, and Yuuri had revealed his own hard member, he crawled back on top of Victor and caressed his face. 

“Darling, do you have anything to help us?” 

Victor nodded and rolled over to pull a bottle out of his drawer. Oil. Yuuri smiled and took the bottle form him before dripping some of it into his hands. He took his oiled fingers and began moving them up and down Victor’s shaft, coating it in the substance. Victor couldn’t help but moan at the sensation, but Yuuri gave a small chuckle. 

“That’s not even the best part.” 

Yuuri straddled Victor and gently lowered himself down onto his cock. It hurt, definitely, but Yuuri’s desire to please him overcame the pain. He sat there for a few moments, allowing himself to adjust to Victor’s size. The look on Victor’s face was priceless. It could only be described as pure joy. Yuuri couldn’t wait to see what else he could make Victor’s face do in the moments to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I never claimed to be good at smut and I never will XD. That said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! <33
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, Victor worked intensely on a letter. He wrote until it was perfect, or perfect enough with the short amount of time that they had, and woke Yuri and Otabek with it in his hand. 

“What is it, old man?” Yuri asked. 

“I have the letter ready. You two need to deliver it to the king as quickly as possible so he can be ready for them to shut down the city. Mechanics and knights will have to be prepared at a moments notice.” 

“Right. We will deliver it safe and sound. You can count on us.” 

Otabek nodded in agreement and grabbed the letter from Victor’s hands. He tucked it into his coat and stood. 

“Before you leave, Yuuri is making breakfast. They won’t shut down the city until noon, so we do have a bit of time.” 

The four of them enjoyed a quickly-made breakfast together. Victor found great joy in watching Yuri try coffee for the first time. The poor boy wasn’t expecting it to be so bitter. Even Otabek gave a smile at his grimace. 

“Bleh!” he spat, “How can you drink this stuff?” The whole table laughed. 

Soon, Yuri and Otabek set off with their letter and headed for the palace. They were making sure to take back routes as to not alarm the magical terrorists, but that also meant they would take longer to get there. Victor turned to Yuuri. 

“Are you ready to go underground?” 

“Of course.” 

Victor and Yuuri headed for the nearest entrance to the city’s underground tunnels. As they walked, they got to talking. 

“What do you suppose their plan is, Yuuri? How would they use magic to destroy the city?” 

“I’m not sure. Surely, if they wanted to be crude, they would just set fire to it all. But they aren’t like that. They’re flamboyant and like to make a show of their work. I can’t imagine what they have come up with, especially since they don’t follow the rules of magic.”

Victor thought about Yuuri’s words as they reached the first entrance. Victor pulled back the door and went in first. The dusty tunnels had just barely enough light to see properly, and the whirling of machinery everywhere made it hard to hear. But Victor knew the tunnels like the back of his hand, so, taking Yuuri’s hand in his own, he guided him through the tunnels until they came to the main area at the heart of the town square. As it was approaching noon, they were careful not to make any disturbances and alarm the terrorists. They hid behind some machinery. Looking around, nothing seemed out of place, but, soon enough, they saw magicians approaching the main energy source. 

“There!” whispered Victor. They moved closer to hear what they were doing. Sure enough, they attacked the heart of the machinery and destroyed it, shutting down the whole city. Yuuri stood to go attack them, but Victor held him down. 

“If you attack now, it could do serious damage to the infrastructure. It’s best to wait and let the knights deal with them. 

The lead terrorist turned to his men and spoke aloud, “Now that the city is shut down, we can begin with the dragon operation. I need a couple of you to guard this area, but the rest of you will come with me to begin the rising. Within a few hours, the city will be ours.” 

The terrorists cheered and marched away to their duties. Victor held his breath, hoping and praying that none came their way, and none did. Yuuri and Victor slipped back up to the streets through the nearest entrance. They soon found themselves in the market distract while everyone was in a frenzy about the power. Nothing like this had ever happened before, after all. 

Victor turned to Yuuri, “What do you think they meant by a ‘dragon operation?’ The dragons have been dead for many years now.” 

“I’m not sure. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” 

They didn’t have to wait long to find their answer when a scream came from a few streets over. They quickly followed the sound and found someone yelling to the people on the streets. 

“The terrorists are attacking in the fields! The terrorists are attacking!” 

Victor ran up to the panicking man and grabbed ahold of him.

“What is happening?” 

“They are attacking!” 

“How?” Victor said, clearly annoyed. 

“I-I’m not sure. All I saw was magic and what looked like a dragon. Dragons don’t exist, but, somehow, they had one lying on the ground. We must alert the knights!” 

Victor let go of the man and turned to Yuuri. 

“Yuuri, would it be possible to bring someone back from the dead with magic?” 

“Well, yes, but it would take many people and break almost every rule in the book.” 

“Do you think they could have risen a dragon from the dead?” 

Yuuri’s eyes grew wide, “I suppose they could have.” 

“We need to stop them. Can you fight it?” 

“A dragon? Maybe. A dragon and all of those magicians? No way.” 

“Well then what can we do?” 

Yuuri thought for a moment before his eyes lit up in excitement, “What about the clockwork dragon? Could it fight the real dragon?” 

“It could, but how will we activate it with the city down?” 

“I could shoot fire into the furnace and heat it up to charge it!” 

“Yuuri, you’re a genius.” 

The two hurried back to the lab, not stopping to talk or to even breathe. They made it back quickly and got right to work. Victor put the finishing touches on his dragon and Yuuri began heating up the furnace and getting it ready for action. Victor turned to Yuuri. 

“Alright, it is time.” 

Yuuri shot fire directly into the coals and the machine began to come alive. It took several moments, but, soon enough, they had the clockwork dragon up and running. It moved its huge head and looked around the room. Victor spoke to it. 

“Hello, I am your creator. You have one mission: to fight the dragon in the fields to the west. Do you understand?” 

The clockwork dragon moved its huge head up an down. Victor smiled. 

“It is just as amazing as I thought it would be.” 

Victor opened the huge side doors to the lab and mounted the dragon. He offered Yuuri a hand and soon was joined by his warmth. Yuuri grabbed onto Victor’s waist and Victor began to order the dragon.

“To the fields!” he called. 

The dragon heard this and walked out the large doors. The people in the area all screamed in terror, but they didn’t have time to worry about them. The clockwork beast flapped its wings and took off into the air. Soon enough, they were flying through the city. Victor could only assume that Yuuri looked around in awe because he was feeling the exact same way. The huge city of Hasetsu looked so beautiful from above. In the distance, they could see a gathering of people in the fields. They stood in two crowds. One was near the city, looking as if they were ready to fight, and the other was away from the city surrounding a large beast. The dragon. Victor pointed to the ground and ordered the dragon to take them there. They dived to the ground and landed in front of the knights who were preparing to fight. 

Victor slipped off the large beast and was soon followed by Yuuri. He looked around until he found the person he was looking for. The king. He approached him with wide eyes as the scared knights watched on. 

“Your Majesty, I think I might have a solution.” 

“I see. Well done, Victor. We can only hope it will work.” 

Victor turned to his creation and yelled, “Go! Attack!” 

The clockwork dragon threw its huge head and roared to the real dragon who had just begun to stand. It charged it, quickly running through the fields and making it’s way to the beast. They were similar in size, and there was no telling which one would win. 

The real dragon charged too, taking the fight away from the magicians and into the center field. Finally, the two met in a large clash of claws and wings and began to fight. The clockwork dragon, though not as structurally sound, had an advantage in its metal claws. It tore away at the other dragon's skin while the other dragon chipped away at its machinery. 

They fought and fought and it was hard to tell who the winner would be. However, they slowly began to realize that the partially unfinished dragon would not win the fight. Panic arose in Victor’s chest. What would they do when the dragon fell apart. He turned to Yuuri. 

“Do you think you could take it if it was worn down?” 

“I-I’m not sure. Not like this.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Victor’s question never got answered as he watched the clockwork dragon crumble to the ground in pieces. He cried out as the dragon roared at the awaiting knights. The fighters began to charge the beast, but Victor knew it was no use. Not even the best knight could take on a slightly-worn dragon. They just couldn’t. He turned to Yuuri. 

“We need to leave.” 

“I’m not leaving these people.” 

“I can’t let you die, Yuuri. I love you. We need to get out of here.” 

“No.” Yuuri stood up a bit straighter and took a deep breath. “I know what to do.” 

At that moment, Yuuri began to change. He shifted and grew until he was a giant standing before Victor. Victor gasped. He had turned himself into a dragon. Yuuri took steps forward towards the dragon. He passed the knights and quickly hit the dragon with his claws. They began to fight. 

“No!” Victor called to Yuuri, but Yuuri could not hear him. He was too busy fighting. 

Victor could only watch on as the love of his life got swatted at and hurt as he fought. But, despite his injuries, Yuuri seemed to be winning. The clockwork dragon had worn it out enough that it was no match for Yuuri. Yuuri breathed fire in its face and hit it one final time before it fell to the ground. It was over. The dragon was dead. 

Yuuri looked back at Victor with sad eyes. What was wrong? They had won?

Yuuri began to shrink back down to regular form and Victor ran to him. It wasn’t until he reached him that he realized what was wrong. 

Yuuri coughed and coughed. His heart was out of place. And, if Victor’s predictions were true, it was probably destroyed too. The dragon form was too large for the heart to stay in place. Yuuri was going to die. 

Yuuri fell into Victor’s arms and Victor picked him up. Frantically, he looked around. A knight was riding up to them to make sure they were alright. Victor yelled.

“I need your horse! Please!” 

The knight got to them and graciously dismounted allowing for Victor and Yuuri to get on. Yuuri was still coughing and breathing heavily. Victor needed to work fast. He made the horse run as fast as possible to get back to the lab. The whole time they were riding images of Yuuri’s brown eyes fading away filled his head. This couldn’t happen. He wouldn’t let it happen. He pushed the horse harder.

Eventually, he ran the horse through the large open doors of the lab. He quickly dismounted and got Yuuri off, carefully carrying him to the worktable. Victor ran around the room as Yuuri coughed up a storm gathering his tools. He needed to save him no matter what the cost. The door to the lab opened and in walked Yuri and Otabek who seemed alarmed at the sight in front of them. 

“Victor? What’s happening?”

“No time to explain. I need you to find Katsuki Mari in the poor district. She’s a mage.” 

“I know who that is,” Otabek said. 

“Good! Find her and bring her here. Quick!” 

The two left the lab and went to find her. Victor came back to the table where Yuuri was lying and took a deep breath. Yuuri looked at him with wide eyes. 

“Victor?” he said.

“What?” Victor replied as he organized his tools. 

“I love you.” With that, Yuuri promptly passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I really really appreciate it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/) Come talk to me! I'd love to hear form you!
> 
> Do you like choose your own adventure Victuuri fics? Well, do I have something for you. You can read A Match Made [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17002776) Includes wonderful art by Jemsauce!


	12. Chapter Tweleve

“No!” Victor screamed, “Yuuri, stay with me!” 

Without the power to the city, Victor couldn’t charge Yuuri’s new heart to put it in him. He needed Katsuki Mari here, and he needed her here now. Victor pulled out his tools and cut open Yuuri’s chest. Just as he had expected, the mechanical heart was in a barely functioning state. As Victor stopped the blood from oozing out, he realized what he would have to do. 

Victor reached for the clockwork heart and began squeezing it at a steady rate. He had never heard of someone beating a heart with their hands, not to mention a clockwork heart, but he had to try. Anything for Yuuri. He had to live. 

Victor stayed like that for a while, trying his best to give life to the dying man, when his door opened and Katsuki Mari walked through with Yuri and Otabek. One look at Victor’s frantic face had her springing into action. She cast a spell over Yuuri, one that looked similar to the one she used to keep him alive on the fateful night they met, and looked Victor in the eyes. 

“Please, you have to save him,” she begged. 

“I know.” Victor walked over to where he stored the new heart and took it out. “I need you to give fire to the furnace so this heart can start beating. Then I will connect it to Yuuri. We need to work fast.” 

Mari nodded and got ready to do as she was told. Victor took in a deep breath. They were going to save Yuuri, even if it killed him. 

 

___________

It took several days. Several painstaking, agonizing days. Mari, Otabek, and Yuri stayed at the lab while Victor watched over Yuuri. He had the new heart beating within him, but it was anybody’s guess how long he would stay out. The three took care of Victor while he practically ignored everything to stay with Yuuri. Even Mari, who was Yuuri’s sister, was concerned that he was too invested. She approached him one day. 

“I don’t know what your relationship is like with my brother,” she spoke, “but, if he were to die, you need to accept that life will go on without him.”

“He can’t die. I-I love him. I love him more than anyone I’ve ever known.” 

She laid a hand on his shoulder and sighed before walking away to join the other two. Victor looked down at the coffee Yuri had made him and almost cried. He didn’t make it as Yuuri had. Yuuri knew just how strong Victor liked it. Victor began to choke up. He had to stay strong. For Yuuri. 

Despite the fact that Victor stayed by Yuuri’s side as often as possible, he actually wasn’t there to see him wake up. One night, as Victor lay in bed, he couldn’t sleep. He decided to go check on Yuuri. When he walked out into the lab, Victor saw what appeared to be Yuuri sitting up on the table. 

Victor rubbed his eyes. What was he seeing? That was… Yuuri? Realization finally set in. Victor’s eyes grew wide and he ran to the table they had set up for Yuuri. He pulled him into a giant hug. 

“Oh! Yuuri!” Victor cried, “You’re awake!” 

Victor could feel Yuuri smile against his shoulder. 

“I could never leave you,” Yuuri whispered, voice hoarse. 

Tears welled up in Victor’s eyes. He pulled him even closer and began to cry. They sat there together for what felt like a short minute, but, soon enough, the sun was rising. Mari came into the room and gave a cry. 

“Yuuri!” she yelled and ran towards him as well, “You’re awake!” 

Yuuri laughed, “Yes, I am.” 

They talked quickly to each other, but Victor hardly noticed, he kept staring at Yuuri’s beautiful face. He smiled. Never before had he loved someone’s smile so much. 

After waking up Yuri and Otabek and telling them the news, they tried to get Yuuri to stand and walk around. He did it fine, even if a little shaky, and took in deep breaths. His new heart was beating firmly and well. Victor was elated. Yuuri had a working heart. 

As Victor led Yuuri through the lab to get him used to walking, he smiled at him and spoke. 

“You’re doing so well, Yuuri. I can’t believe it.” 

“I can turn into a dragon but you can’t believe that I can walk?” 

“About that, you’re never allowed to do that again.” 

Yuuri laughed, “I’ll try my best.” 

“You better.” 

Yuuri then “tripped” and fell into Victor’s arms. 

“Oh no,” Yuuri said sarcastically, “I’ve fallen.” 

Victor laughed, “You sound very concerned.” 

“I am! I think you need to give me a kiss to make me feel better.” 

“My pleasure.” Victor leaned in and kissed Yuuri, much to Yuri’s disgust. 

Everything was falling back into place, and Victor couldn’t be happier. 

 

_________

 

“Introducing inventor Victor Nikiforov and his assistant Katsuki Yuuri!” 

Victor led Yuuri into the throne room of the palace. The man beside him had been awake for a week now, and Victor dubbed him well enough to go with him on his trip to the palace. The king sat in his throne and gazed at the two with a look of pride. He smiled. 

“Victor. Yuuri. It’s good to see you. I have so many things to tell you.” 

“It is our pleasure, your majesty.” 

“Thanks to your efforts, the dragon and, subsequently, the terrorist organization have both been eliminated. How could I ever repay you for your efforts and dedication to your country?” 

“We don’t want much, your majesty,” Victor spoke, “We only ask of you for three things.” 

“Go on.”

Yuuri squeezed Victor’s hand as he began to list off what they had discussed prior to the meeting. 

“We wish to be left alone regarding press and attention.” 

“It shall be done.” 

“We also wish that the poor district and the Angles district that suffered the most from the terrorist’s activities in their area be refurbished properly. We would like for them to be given whatever resources are available to help them regrow and rebuild. We also would ask that Otabek Altin, Katsuki Mari, and Yuri Pilsetsky of the poor district be given jobs within the palace. They helped us tremendously and think that they deserve to live better lives than what we can provide for them.” 

“Of course. What is your last request?” 

“We wish that you have an open mind when it comes to magic.” 

“Pardon?” 

“Yes, you heard me right. I, inventor Victor Nikiforov, wish to include magic in our everyday lives once again. It is extremely useful. It may be old, but it can do things that machinery can only dream of. Katsuki Mari, who you promised to give a job in the palace, is as strong as a magician as Yuuri. She should revive the old position of palace mage to once again include it in royal proceedings. I also wish to use it more in my inventions, which I would ask that you accept with open arms.” 

The king was silent for a few moments, but, soon enough, he nodded his head, “Of course. It shall be done.” 

Victor smiled, “Thank you.” 

“No. Thank you. Both of you. I don’t know where we would be without you, but it is not here.” 

Victor bowed and Yuuri did the same. The king made the command for them to rise. Just as they were leaving, the king spoke once again.

“How is the project I asked you to do going?” 

Victor turned around, “With all due respect, your majesty, I have to say that it has failed completely.” He grabbed Yuuri’s hand. “Love can’t be replicated. It is special and scared. It is something completely out of our boundaries. I’m sorry, but I can’t replicate it. People have to find it on their own.” 

The king nodded, “I’ll let it go, but I expect you to come up with something equally as amazing for us!” 

“I would expect nothing less.” 

With that, the duo walked out of the palace and back onto the streets of Hasetsu. 

 

_______________

 

“Where are you taking me?” Yuuri giggled. 

“You’ll see!” Victor pulled him up the hill and stopped walking. He got behind Yuuri and untied the blindfold he had placed. “Look now!” 

Yuuri opened his eyes and gasped. They were on a hill just outside of Hasetsu that looked over the whole city. Yuuri’s eyes practically sparkled in the moonlight as he looked over the well-lit place with the stars above. He turned to Victor, “It’s beautiful.”

“Oh, but it hardly holds a candle to you!” 

Yuuri smiled and leaned in to give Victor a kiss. As they kissed under the moonlight, Yuuri suddenly pulled away. 

“I have something to show you too!” he grinned. 

“Oh?”

Yuuri walked out into the open and began taking off his shirt. Victor giggled. 

“Not here, Yuuri!” he teased. 

“Oh, stop it, you!” 

Yuuri eventually got down to only his pants which were rolled up to his knees. He turned to Victor, proudly showing off his heart surgery scar. 

 

“Are you ready?” he asked. 

Victor nodded. Yuuri took fire in his hands and shot it into the night sky. Soon, he took it and began to dance. Victor was in awe. He was fire-dancing. Yuuri moved in rhythm to silent music and twirled his fire around quickly. The light gracefully made Yuuri’s body glow and shine as he danced and moved in a way Victor had never seen before. Yuuri tossed the fire, span it, and even let it dance up his arms. When he was done, Victor felt the heat disappear from the air. Yuuri breathed in deeply. 

 

“Wow! Yuuri, that was amazing!” 

Victor came and pulled Yuuri into a hug, feeling the heat radiating off his skin. He buried his head in his neck and whispered, “I love you so much.” 

“I love you too, Victor,” Yuuri whispered back. 

And so, a new era began in Hasetsu. One filled with the product of two men and their love. It included magic, machinery, and a collaboration that hadn’t been seen ever in their history. Together, they made a new path in the world and filled it with their creations. People would tell their story for years to come. Some people said that Victor was the mastermind, some said it was Yuuri, but all the stories had one thing in common. They were in love, and they would continue to be in love until the end of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming on this amazing journey with me! This whole story was inspired by a song, called "The Girl and the Clockwork Dragon" by The Cog is Dead. I can't believe how much I love this story, and how sad I am that it's over, but there's still good news. I've started another fantasy story called "Tomb of Knowledge!" Come follow that if you liked my writing! I promise it'll be a good one!
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/) \- come talk to me! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3 
> 
> [Personal Tumblr](https://anyaisdancingagain.tumblr.com/) [Writing Tumblr](https://dancinganya.tumblr.com/)


End file.
